


Kill La Khepri

by NotZiz



Category: Kill la Kill (Anime & Manga), Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Complete, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Endbringer Fight, Gold Morning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-29 16:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 38
Words: 214,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20085601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotZiz/pseuds/NotZiz
Summary: Danny and Taylor both trigger from the locker as a vehicle to give Taylor mostly canon-compliant versions of Ryuko Matoi's powerset. Everything else stays as in canon (at the start) beyond those two changes. Also Parian gets a shop because fuck it.This fic imported over from SB, because do you really want to visit SB? It is not edited from the original, this is for archive purposes.





	1. Chapter 1: If Only I Had Thorns Like a Thistle...

#  Kill La Khepri 

### Chapter 1: If Only I Had Thorns Like a Thistle...

It had been a long, long day at Winslow. The brief hope I had had that the incident would be the peak and therefore end of my torment was long since dashed. Hospitalized for a week. You’d think that even bullies would have their limits, right? Wrong. Oh sure, they hadn’t done it again, but the constant torment was still there. Still as bad as ever. No reprieve for me, no regret for them.

I had a long bus ride home to think about it, as the unkempt streets of Brockton bay slowly rolled by. Why had it all gone so wrong? I knew when, that would be when Emma Barnes had betrayed me. That usurper Sophia had replaced me like I’d never even mattered. The steady ramp up in bullying had culminated in being shoved in my locker...a story that doesn’t need to be repeated. It was at the same time that my Dad started drifting even further away. He spent less time with me, more time at work, or up late at night. The little we talked before had somehow managed to drop to even less.

I had nothing. I was nothing. No family, no friends, no power or powers. Why did I even go to school anymore? It would just be another day like today. Covered in juice, laughed at, mocked openly while the teachers did nothing.

I sat in my seat for a long time. Nothing left in my head but emptiness. It felt like I rode for an eternity, time no longer seemed important. I could sit here, in this state of emptiness and thoughtlessness, forever. It was...manageable.

I sat like that for I don’t know how long. No longer than usual, I guess. My bus rolled up to my stop and I sat there. Why even bother getting off? Dad wouldn’t be home for hours and even then, he probably wouldn’t notice. And soon enough, the bus rolled on and I was none the better.

I was prodded off by an irritable bus driver at the end of the line, shuffling across the street to the other stop to ride back the other way. Might as well. I’d say the chill helped motivate me, but it really didn’t. Eventually a bus came, I got on, and it went. Eventually, I got off the bus and stepped away. Eventually I got to my house. I don’t know how long it took me, I hadn’t bothered to keep track.

The bottom step of the house creaked as I stepped up to the door. Dad’s car was in the driveway. I hoped he wouldn’t notice. I didn’t want to explain that I was late because I had another bad day. I didn’t want to explain anything. I didn’t want to talk really, my mouth felt like opening would be too much effort.

The doorknob turned quietly, maybe I could pretend I was just in my room the entire time. The house was quiet and I crept along the hallway, careful of the floorboards that would betray my presence. There was a quiet energy to being invisible that I had managed to master. I snuck up to my room, closing the door behind me. Dumping all my things on the floor, I didn’t even bother to clean them. The juice had ruined my backpack and my notebooks anyway, no point in trying to half-heartedly fix it.

I laid on my bed for a while, the acrid smell of fruit juices still lingering in my hair.

The house was still silent.

Where was Dad anyway? He must be home. I know he didn’t check on me as much any more, but this felt off. He at least made some noise usually. It’s how I knew how to avoid him.

I sat up in my bed slowly, the fog of inertia drifting off to be replaced by curiosity and a bit of worry.

He was probably in the basement where he seemed to slip off to when he thought I wasn’t paying attention. Well, I would have to get him eventually for dinner and if I did, it would help sell the story I had been here the whole time.

I descended the stairs, less concerned about my noise this time, even making a little to help signal my coming. Still nothing as I turned down the hall and went for the basement door. Huh, I thought as I opened the door. There was the musty odor of the basement, but undertones of something bitter, almost metallic.

Walking down the stairs, a small hurry in my step I called out, “Dad? Are you down here?” Hearing my voice fall flat against the concrete walls as I got to the bottom of the steps and got a look.

The light to the basement was on, and on the far wall was my Dad. Pinned to the wall like a butterfly with a blade through his chest and the spray of blood on the walls and floor behind him. His head, hung low.

I was trembling. When had I started trembling? I was wet. When had I started crying? I looked at him through blurry eyes. Maybe...No...with that amount of blood it was impossible. He simply couldn’t be. Why? When? Who? Questions raced through my mind before everything went blank. There was nothing.

I stood there dumbfounded, as I truly, finally, had nothing left.

\---

It was a long time before I even thought of getting up. My head raised slowly, mechanically. I had sat huddled in the opposite corner all night, the morning sun now only just beginning to dawn through the window.

I considered going over, doing...something. What could I do? Nothing. There was nothing I could do. I didn’t even know the first thing about what had happened.

I lowered my head again, returning to my huddled form.

It was a long time until the knocks came on the door. The doorbell rang incessantly over and over in the background of the white noise of my brain. I could feel it somewhere between the black matter. The doorbell stopped. The knocking continued still a while yet, before stopping too.

Later came the sirens. First one, then two. More knocking, then a crash. Feet and boots, pounding and pounding around the house. It was all so distant from me, from my hell. With a creak they found the basement door, boots pounding down the stairs. Curses, jumbled words, all still just noise, worthless noise.

It was a few minutes before they even noticed me. Not that I blamed them, what was there to notice? They spoke to me, something...the words just wouldn’t stay in my brain, they slid off the sides and disappeared. A familiar face appeared, a man I knew once. He tried to talk to me to, but it still slid off like the white noise in my brain.

They looked at me, clearly worried. I could feel it from how their stares penetrated the top of my skull. I didn’t look back. The paramedics came, poking and prodding. What could they do for me? I wasn’t hurt, no that was Dad. He needed them more. I wanted to tell them, but it was just so much effort. I knew it should be easy, but there was something there, blocking me.

They tried to coax me up, but I felt like lead. I couldn’t move, there wasn’t enough energy to move. Then they lifted me, carrying me to an ambulance. A mask was fitted to my face and the world faded away.

\---

Lights. Noise. Life. I was too tired for life. Back to sleep.

\---

Lights again. Noise. People talking. Near me? Felt like it. Didn’t matter, back to sleep.

\---

Someone speaking to me. Same person as before? I couldn’t tell. Why wouldn’t they let me sleep? There was nothing worth getting up for anyway. Everything was gone. My friends, my family, my life.

Still the noise yammered. It yammered softly, but insistently. After an eon I opened my eyes a crack, looking at her critically. A well dressed woman in a suit. Maybe in her mid-thirties, she was staring at me with a look between pity and sadness. I didn’t need her pity. Mr. Gladly looked at me that way, plenty of pity but no help. I closed my eyes.

\---

She was still there. I could feel her behind my eyelids, waiting. I knew I could go back to sleep and she would have to leave eventually, but she’d just return again. With a slow opening of my eyes, I looked at her directly.

She spoke, “Hello. How are you feeling?”

A pause, like she expected an answer.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel up to speaking just yet. I’m Melissa Nicholson, I’m with the PRT. I’m here to help you. Do you need anything? Food? Drink?”

I gave her only my gaze, staring at her. Nothing went on in my head.

“Well just let me know if you need anything. Do you remember anything about the attack? About what happened to your father?”

There it was. A light. A spark. My Dad. He was dead. What was I supposed to do? What could I do? She looked at me expectantly, she must’ve seen the gears in my head beginning to turn. I answered, “No.”

I had to do something. There must be more to the world than that. It couldn’t be as simple as my life being completely ruined by people while I was still only fifteen.

A knock at the door interrupted my train of thought, there was an exchange of words behind the door. Melissa looked to me, but finding no answer replied, “Come in?”

A man strode into the room with a step that seemed off, too efficient for a normal person. Also way too much costume for a normal person- oh that is Armsmaster. Armsmaster is looking at me. He is also saying things. The shock at seeing him subsides enough to catch the tail end.

“-no information about your father’s activities?” He looked at me, a touch of concern on his otherwise schooled features. At least it wasn’t pity like the woman had. I shook my head in response slowly.

He frowned at that, glancing to the agent and then down, looking thoughtful. “Really? It’s not unusual for people to hide their powers, but did you notice anything about his workshop in the basement?”

Powers? What powers? My eyes widened, I could feel the surprise pushing up against the lethargy. “What powers?” I blurted out, the panic slowly reaching my voice.

He looked distinctly uncomfortable, the frown reaching the creases in his forehead, “I’m sorry that you have to find out this way Ms. Hebert. It appears your father was some manner of Tinker. I know this is a difficult time for you, but if you know anything now is the time to say it. I assure you that the PRT and Protectorate are giving this matter our full attention.”

Tinker? A cape? He was a cape all this time. And he did nothing. I had kept silent every day, I had downplayed the locker incident, and he was a cape the entire time. He could’ve fixed things. He didn’t need my protection. He should’ve protected me. Why not then? He had ignored me more and more lately! This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be!

I felt my inertia give way to confusion, to anger. His workshop should still be in the basement. The PRT couldn’t have taken everything yet. I needed to see it, to know what he had been working on this entire time. What he had hidden from me. I looked at myself for the first time since I woke. A white hospital gown covered me. An IV pole was setup next to the bed, the line leading down to a needle in my arm. I couldn’t leave stuck to an IV pole, so I reached over and ripped the needle out.

Armsmaster immediately moved into action. “Don’t remove that.” He leaned over, grabbing for my arm and without even thinking, I reacted. Jabbing the needle at his face, surprise at my actions shifted to a slightly different surprise as the needle cut across his cheek. He had moved fast enough for it to only be a light cut, but I was already out of the bed, on the other side.

He looked dismayed on the other side of the bed, his eyes pointing down at my arm where the IV had been. My arm was bleeding heavily, rivulets of blood streaming down my arm from the site. Armsmaster raised an open palm, “Ms. Hebert, please, just sit down.” Melissa was at the other end of the bed, edging around slowly. I had to get out of here and if they caught me that wouldn’t happen. Not any time soon.

I felt a pressure in the back of my head, a low pressure that felt familiar. I had felt it before, after the locker. Touching the pressure had just been uncomfortable and I assumed it was some weird new headache come to add to my torment. It felt right now, however, and I pushed on it. The blood pouring from my arm changed from a stream to a gush, no longer flowing to the floor, but around me. I felt my anger crystalize in my skull. I had suffered, I had lost everything, I thought I had nothing only for them to show me that even when i thought I had my Dad, I didn’t even have that. He had left me alone and in the dark while he played with his powers in the basement. No more.

Armsmaster looked as surprised as I felt and I directed a stream of blood at him, the spray hitting him in the chest and face. Another stream did the same for Melissa, both of them momentarily stunned by the sudden change in circumstance and blinded. Armsmaster was still between me and the door, I heaved the bed and the attached equipment at him while he was wiping off his visor. He lost his balance, stumbling back to catch himself on a wall and I bolted for the door.

The hallway was sterile white, like most hospitals. Old with decay and degradation from the harsh conditions of Brockton Bay, but still kept meticulously clean. There were doors to rooms down a long hallway, followed by a nurse’s station. No one had noticed me yet, so I bolted for the opposite direction, pulling my blood with me. I couldn’t afford to leave a trail. I saw the sign for a staircase and turned into it immediately, making sure it closed silently behind me.

Armsmaster would follow, the nurses would come out shortly too. I had to get out, and fast. I took the stairs two and three at a time, getting down to the next floor and popped out of the stair well. He would probably check the nearest stairwell and oh there was the sounds of his boots. I scurried across the all too clean hallway, making my way to the opposite side and taking the stairwell down again.

The stairwell was a dirty gray of concrete, not polished for appearances like the rest of the hospital and probably not often traversed. It turns out the emergency care was only on the second floor and I had gone to the basement from the signs. The signs also indicated that there was a car park on that level. I opened the door and glanced out.

The car park was actually pretty well lit and full of vehicles. Signs close to the entrance specified it was for employee and emergency parking only. Rows of cars stretched out and at the other side was the light of midday. I quietly walked by the cars, not wanting to look suspicious. I was wearing a hospital gown, I couldn’t just wander the city like this.

Shit.

Looking around the cars was starting to appear fruitless, until one had a lump of clothes in the back seat. I tried the door, but it was locked. A moment of apprehension, I didn’t want to steal someone’s stuff, but also if I was caught now I wouldn’t get answers. I needed to know what had happened, why my Dad had found the time to be a god damn cape but not to save his daughter.

The glass shattered with the wet sound of blood smashing against it. I quickly pulled the blood back so it wouldn’t get on the clothes. I didn’t want to test my luck finding another set of clothes. It was a gray pair of sweatpants, a hoodie, and some socks,all of which were a bit short but also too wide. Maybe the wideness would hide the fact that the hoodie didn’t quite reach as far as it should. I quickly pulled them on, discarding the hospital gown and hiding it under the car.

Looking like either a malnourished thug or drug addict, I departed the car park quickly with my hood up. I could hear the sounds of panic in the hospital and near the entrance. The back alley was an obvious answer, so I instead just walked straight, jaywalking across the street and getting as far away I could. I didn’t feel safe until a few blocks later, far from the sound of the now present sirens.

Safe was a relative term, the neighborhood wasn’t exactly stellar. Concrete sidewalks uneven and cracked from decades of neglect, windows barred, and doors clearly deadbolted it was like many low income areas of Brockton Bay. No one would bother a stick of a girl who they probably couldn’t even tell was a girl here. I looked for the nearest bus stop only to remember I had no bus fare. I had nothing, no wallet, no ID, no bag. Just a hoodie and sweatpants. Oh and socks, to help cushion but not totally stop the glass fragments on the sidewalk.

Walking home would be a long trek.

Walking home _was_ a long trek. The benefits of apparently being able to control my blood was that after my third cut on my foot I had the brilliant idea to just pad my feet with blood. That didn’t work as planned and I immediately slipped because having liquid pads on your feet is weird. So now I had about a half inch of dried blood caked on the soles of my feet, which was still weird, but significantly less likely to get me cut.

Somewhere along the way, I had fully switched from depression to determination. I would not let this world beat me. There was more than I thought before. I do have the power to change things. Like changing the person who killed my father into a perforated pincushion.

I stopped a block away from my house. The house was cordoned off, a PRT van stationed in front of it. They would know I was out for a while by now, they’d be ready for me if I just walked up to the house. That was okay, I had purpose now. I had time. I would wait. Not just standing around, but I knew the neighborhood well and there was a large pair of hedges that a rail thin teenager could easily fit inside. It was already dusk and a few hours more would bring it to the dead of night. Then I could sneak in the back and investigate Dad’s workshop.

The hedge was actually not all that uncomfortable. It was chilly out in the early April air, but the hedge kept the wind out and the heat of the Earth underneath helped keep it comfortable enough. I had a long time with my thoughts as the light slowly died and the stars won out against the day. I had powers now. I had had powers, the pressure was the same as before. Why was it different now? I had been cut, that was why. Before the blood didn’t have an easy way out, so when I had pushed I must’ve just raised my blood pressure. With the IV I had a steady stream of blood and an open wound, which was much easier to use.

Speaking of which, why didn’t I bleed out? I was pretty sure I hit Armsmaster with at least a few litres of blood and I don’t think I had that much to spare. Did I make blood too? I must, otherwise how else would I have been able to walk out of there. So I made blood, and I controlled it. That was...kind of useful. It wasn’t something obviously useful like an Alexandria package, but it still wasn’t useless. I had enough blood that I could knock someone over with the force of it. Maybe I could use it like a high pressure hose? I wondered if I made enough blood to sustain something like that.

There must be other uses than just throwing blood at people though. What else was blood good for? Blood donations, but I was AB+ and heard that no one could take my blood. That wouldn’t help much at all then. Could I make things out of blood? I experimented, forming shapes from my blood. The cut in my arm was still fresh and I had kept pulling small amounts of blood from it to keep it open. The shapes seemed to form just fine, but it was like a blade of water...not very useful.

I’d have to spend some time actually experimenting with this on a larger scale. I needed to find out my limits, like how much blood was too much. I was sure it wasn’t infinite. There were bullshit powers, but that would be too much for even a world where Eidolon existed. I wondered idly if he had ever pulled my power out as one of his three.

The moon came and rose to its spot high in the sky. I slipped out of the hedge and through the backyards of the adjoining properties. I moved silently, making my way into the backyard. So far it seemed empty, except for the tape cordoning off the house and various levels of ‘Do Not Enter’. The door seemed too obvious, they wouldn’t just leave the house unsecured if it was a crime scene, right?

I opted for one of the small basement windows, punching throw the glass with another burst of blood. It took two tries, since I wanted to try and keep it quiet, but I caught the glass in my blood and kept it from clattering all over the floor. Mostly. Brushing the jagged edges aside from the fame, I slipped into the basement.

It was unlit, only the dim moonlight shining through. Dad’s body was gone, the blood stains on the walls weren’t. The workshop wasn’t as dusty as I remembered. There was equipment all over the room, vials in stands on some benches, piles of fabric in a bin. There was even a sewing machine to the side, oddly enough. A lot also seemed to be missing, with only the empty vials and fragments of cloth being what was left. There were impressions left on the bench of larger projects, missing spaces.

The PRT had already combed the place. Of course they had. I didn’t even know how long I had been out, it could’ve been days. It probably was. Shit, it there even anything left here for me to find? I looked around, but there was only fragments of projects not yet started and empty spaces of projects that might have held clues. I couldn’t even tell what he had been trying to make. Something with fabric, cloth? But why the vials then?

I spied something out of the corner of her eye. The coal chute, boarded up years ago. A single screw held it in place, that caught the pale light. It looked awfully new. I looked around, finding a screwdriver to-damn it Philips head. I found a flat head screwdriver, taking the screw out and opening the chute.

The interior of the coal chute was dusty, unchanged from the years since it had been sealed. In the middle, at the very back, was a black lump of cloth with some bits of red poking out. I reached in, pulling it out to get a better look. Shaking off the dust, I held it out to let it fall and see what it was.

What the fuck.

Why did my Dad make some kind of sailor uniform? Or was it a schoolgirl outfit? Why was the skirt so short?

What. The. _Fuck._


	2. Chapter 2: So Sexy She Might Pass Out

###  Chapter 2: So Sexy She Might Pass Out

_What. _

**What the fuck.**

** WHAT THE FUCK.**

**WHAT.**

_Why was it so short? What the heck are these straps supposed to be? _ I frowned at the outfit, looking over it critically. There wasn’t a single redeeming feature about it that I could honestly think of. What did it mean? My Dad was a tinker, I knew that. He evidently made this and hid it. Hid it from who - the person who attacked him or just general security?__

_ _ I turned the outfit over in my hands. Dark fabric, red accents around the lapels, a little scarf thingy. Way too short to cover the midriff. The entire thing was odd. Obviously Dad must have made it, it didn’t look like anything you’d find on a clothes-rack. So what did that make him, a cloth tinker or something?_ _

_ _ _And why is it so god damn risqué, huh? _ The anger swelled in me again, that gentle pulsing returning to the back of my head. I threw the outfit across the room in a burst of anger, leaving it to lay in a pile against the far wall.___ _

_ _ _ _ What to do, what to do...I wanted more than anything to leave the disgusting artifact of Dad’s crumpled unceremoniously against the wall. Where would I even spend the night, I couldn’t stay in the house with the PRT agents- _shit shit shit. __ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The sound of silence was just barely disrupted by the sound of a boot on the front step, the creak sounding out against the night. Time to go. I moved quietly for the window, it was on the backside of the house, I’d have time to bolt before they should discover it. Glancing at the discarded garment, I grimaced and grabbed it. It wasn’t much, but I had found nothing else here and I wasn’t going to just give up the only thing I had found. Not yet. Even if I did want to burn it._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I would burn it. But later, once I had some better ideas of what to do. Slipping out the window I made my way into the yard. It was as dark and still as before, I hadn’t been down there for more than a few minutes tops. No PRT squadron surrounding the house. Why do I care if they are? The PRT are the good guys. Except I had stabbed Armsmaster and then used my powers on him._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I moved across the yard, keeping my steps light and sticking to the clear grass. Moving into the yard of the next house, keeping low and breaking line of sight with the house as soon as I could. I doubted they’d be all, ‘Oh we understand Miss Hebert, please go on your business after stabbing the leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate!’_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Fuck. I had really fucked that up hard. I hadn’t meant to, I just...reacted. I hadn’t been thinking straight and I had fucked up, pissing off the people most likely to help me. I shimmied over a chain-link fence, rusted from years of weathering and a neighbourhood too poor to pay to fix it. _ I hope Armsmaster isn’t too upset...way to go Taylor, you managed to literally piss off the only people who could’ve helped. _ You could always go to E88, you’re white enough that they’d probably let the whole ‘Hebert’ bit slide._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. I really had exhausted my options awfully fast. But I couldn’t just give up, if I gave up now I felt I wouldn’t get back up ever again. I turned the corner, getting onto the sidewalk to look around. There was a distant thrum of an engine, perhaps the PRT responding to finding the broken window. Or just a graveyard shift worker, people did have to work at this time of night even if most didn’t want to._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I moved across the street, trying to look casual and keep my head down, hood up and obscuring my face. Damn it, I should’ve grabbed clothes. I was right there. A bright light flashed into my vision, I raised a hand to shield my eyes. Glancing briefly at the source as I tried to squint through the glare I realized it was the headlight of a motorcycle._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Miss Hebert, don’t run. I just want to talk, you’re not in trouble.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _Shit that’s definitely Armsmaster. How did he find me so quickly? __ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _Oh yeah, because the leader of the local Protectorate couldn’t track down a fifteen year old girl? __ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Crap. That made a lot of sense. He had been surprised at the hospital, but I had given him hours to prepare and search. How could I have thought that I’d be able to totally evade the PRT with no resources and a ton of blood?_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ He was maintaining his position, sitting calmly on the tinkertech motorcycle. It was clearly modified to a large degree. He seemed to be waiting, his dark blue body armor and V-shaped visor pristine, hands resting almost casually on the handlebars. He was a bit too professional to pull off casual, but he certainly didn’t look tense._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I felt anxiety flutter in my chest as I called out quietly, “I’m not?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ He shook his head slowly, his face seemed to shift behind the glare of the headlight, “No. You’re a new trigger and you just lost your father, on top of finding out he was a parahuman. If we arrested every parahuman who made a mistake right after their trigger, most of us would be in jail. Is it okay if I approach so we can talk easier?” He gestured to the distance between us, a good forty feet of pavement._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I nodded slowly. The light of his motorcycle went off and I suddenly found my vision to be much less glaring light and pain. He stepped off the motorcycle, walking over. Once he was closer and my night vision had returned I could see a small look of consternation on the lower half of his face._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Thanks. Now, we can do two things. We can talk out here, where it’s cold and dark, or back at the PRT where you can sit down and have some privacy.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “How do I know you won’t just keep me there? I need to..” I paused, looking down at the garment balled in my hands, “I need to find out what happened. I don’t want to be left out.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ He gave a nod, seemingly understanding, “I can see how you would want to make sure you were involved. You’re a minor, so there are some complications, but we can discuss it. I can’t promise anything, but you’ll be safe with us and we can share what we find.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ My lips thinned. He wasn’t promising that I’d be free to do what I wanted, but then again he probably couldn’t legally. I had looked up to the Protectorate since I was old enough to look up...if I couldn’t trust Armsmaster, who could I trust?_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Oh, also…sorry for attacking you.” I said, looking to the side, my shoulders hunched a bit._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster chuckled lightly, “You are far from the worst experience with a fresh Trigger I’ve had.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I swallowed, a lump in my throat as he stood there. He wasn’t even mad after all the trouble I had given him. He even had laughed it off. I took a deep breath and with a tremble offered out the ball of fabric in my hands. “I found this in my basement. Dad had hidden it.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The visor hid most of his face, but he still let across a bit of surprise. Taking the fabric gingerly, he slowly examined it, seeming absorbed in the examination for a minute. Very carefully he folded it up and nodded, “That’ll be helpful. This looks more advanced than the tinkertech we found in his workshop before. So what will it be?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I exhaled slowly from my nose, the breath fogging the air before me and I looked back to him, “I’ll go with you.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ He gave a smile, “I think you’ll look back and see this was a smart decision.” He turned, walking over to his motorcycle. He opened a compartment and mechanically placed the garment inside with precision. Getting on the motorcycle, he gestured to the spot behind him._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _Oh my god I’m going to ride his motorcycle. ON his motorcycle. _I felt almost giddy in a strange way. Not happy, but weighted with anxiety and an almost nauseated feeling. It wasn’t happiness, but it was better than where I had been five minutes ago. I’d take it._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ \---_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The ride didn’t take long. Turns out, when you have a tinkertech modified motorcycle, it can move awfully fast. I tried to hide that I was a little worried at how sharply he cut some of the corners. We never got close to crashing, but it made sense how he got to my house so fast after I broke in now. He could’ve been halfway across the city and made it pretty quickly at this time of night with the streets so empty._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ We got to the PRT building in pretty short order. I was more than a bit chilly from the ride, but being ushered into the heated building was a pleasant shift in atmosphere. We were largely left alone, a simple nod from Armsmaster or a short word enough to quell any inquiries. He took me up to a medium-sized room, kitted with a desk and chair, a bed, a closet, and the other basic amenities that looked nicer than my own._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “It’s 1:12 in the morning. I suggest you get some sleep and we can work things out in the morning when you’re rested. If you need anything, press the button by the door to speak to someone.” He gave a small, oddly efficient, gesture to introduce the room and turned to leave._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The room was...nice. That was my first thought. It was clean. A bit simple, but it was just overall nice. The bed was…the bed was really nice suddenly. When had I gotten this tired? The adrenaline drained from my veins and I felt the exhaustion that had started hours ago fully set in. I collapsed on the bed and felt the darkness of sleep creep up the edges of my brain and take over._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Waking up was a bittersweet experience of feeling carefree and rested followed by a rapid remembrance of my current situation. My attitude was crushed instantly. There was still so much hanging over my head. I was lucky that Armsmaster didn’t seem to hold a grudge about the hospital incident, but I was still no closer to figuring out what had happened. I was a parahuman, but drowning people in a slow tide of blood didn’t seem all that useful._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I could at least clean myself up. There was a bathroom, fully stocked- and good god I smell like blood. Right, I definitely should fix that. Turning on the shower and waiting for the hot water to fall, I stripped out of the stolen clothes. Straight into the trash can, between the various stains I had left and the rancid smell of blood coming from the socks, best to just let that go all together._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The shower was a chance to calm my mind. It just gave me time to think and become more anxious and from anxious to worried and from worried to depressed. I was interrupted by a knock at the door and a voice from a speaker, “Miss Hebert, Armsmaster would like you to attend a meeting at 8:30 if you’re up to it.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ What time was it? I should check that soon. The world may feel like it was going to swallow me, but if I flaked out on the first meeting with Armsmaster it would set a bad precedent for the future. I needed him to share things with me. Towelling off and doing my normal routine didn’t take long. The smell of breakfast, eggs and sausage, drifted from my room. Huh, a small tray with breakfast and a cup of orange juice sat on the desk. There was a small outline in the back of the desk. Clever, they could deliver things without entering if they didn’t want to disturb someone. It made some sense, they probably had parahuman guests usually who might not be ready to mask up._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Chowing down was less satisfying than I had hoped. The food was obviously good, and I really needed it, but it just felt hollow. I took a salt packet and poured it on the food. Maybe more salt will help. No, more salt didn’t help. Oh well, it was still good. I set my fork down after polishing it off. The closet had some basic clothes thankfully and I got a pair of jeans that roughly fit me and- were all the shirts cape-themed? It was a choice between Armsmaster, _oh hell no _, Miss Militia, _will she be at the meeting? _, Battery, Assault, and Clockblocker. _Why would they even include a Clockblocker shirt? _ It was probably extra merchandise that didn’t sell._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I picked a long-sleeved Miss Militia shirt that made me look a lot more patriotic looking than I felt and collected myself. _Time to do this. _ There was a chance they could help me, that this would all work out. I didn’t feel like I could hope any more, but at least there was something._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Fitting the domino mask to my face, I stepped out._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ \---_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The meeting room was average looking. A long table, a ring of mildly comfortable chairs surrounding it, boards at either end that looked like they could display things. Seated around the table was a group far more interesting than the room itself: Armsmaster, a woman with a short cut and a navy blue suit jacket, and Miss Militia._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Miss Militia had the smallest of smiles reaching the corners of her eyes and _I should’ve chosen the Battery shirt. __ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I sat down in one of the chairs near to where they were seated at one of the ends of the table, keeping a buffer seat between myself and Miss Militia. Armsmaster nodded at me and the woman in navy spoke, “Good to see you felt up to making it Miss Hebert. I’m Director Piggot. I’m afraid you’ve been thrown into the middle of a very complicated situation.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I nodded blankly at that. It seemed a vaguely appropriate way to describe things, even if it didn’t capture how I felt._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Needless to say, being a minor with no parents would already be complicated. Having your father murdered, more so. Having him be a Tinker and you triggering...well, that might make things a bit easier in some ways actually.” Easier? I wasn’t sure how that made things easier at all, a small frown creasing my face at that._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “I don’t want you to give up hope. We are looking into what options are available to you and that will be a major part of today’s discussion. You have two main options. First, you forget your powers, work with CPS and find a foster family or perhaps a relative. Our initial look at the records seemed to indicate no nearby family, however. Your second option would be to join the Wards. Typically Wards need a guardian’s consent and live mostly at home, but I think given your unique situation, we could manage to work things out. It would give you a chance to learn about your powers in a safe environment and even do some good for Brockton Bay.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Not only would the Wards be able to solve your most pressing issues, but you’d receive a weekly paycheck and stipend. This goes into a fund that unlocks when you graduate the Wards and are 18. Now, I don’t know what sort of inheritance your father might have left, but a fund for college or whatever you want to pursue after high school is nothing to scoff at.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ College? I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. She wasn’t wrong though, and I had no idea exactly how much Dad did leave. It couldn’t be much with how stretched thin our finances had been every week._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ She adjusted herself in the seat, never seeming quite comfortable. “The entirety situation is a bit more nuanced, but that’s the gist of it.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ That was… a lot to consider. I looked down at the table and thought. I had always wanted to be a hero, though those dreams had almost been crushed under the bullying at Winslow. Not almost, I had totally given up on them before yesterday. My powers weren’t spectacular like Alexandria’s, but it seemed like a ray of hope. Something good in the months long slog of daily abuse._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ But at the same time, was that what I wanted now? Could I find out about my Dad’s murder that way? Probably. I looked up, hesitating before getting out, “I’d like some time to think about it.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Piggot nodded like she had expected that answer, “Naturally. We can arrange for you to meet with the Wards and tour the facilities and it might help you come to a decision.” Miss Militia glanced at Piggot, something passing between them in a half second before Piggot resumed speaking. “There was something else we had wanted to speak to you about. That… tinkertech garment you found last night. Did you do anything with it?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster looked particularly interested at this part, leaning forward on the table. I shook my head, “No. I only found it a few minutes before I met Armsmaster. I didn’t know what to do with it.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster chimed in, his voice had that projection he had last night though it carried a tone of fatigue. “We had a volunteer attempt to wear it last night during a few tests.” _Oh duh, clothes are made to be worn. _ “It appears to suck blood from the wearer, we had to remove it quickly after as it drains at a fast enough pace to kill someone in about fifteen minutes.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Huh. That was different than I expected. So Dad made killer outfits? Literally deadly outfits that would drain people dry. That didn’t make a lot of sense, Dad would never want to harm people. Well, except for those rare instances he lost his temper. Still, it didn’t fit his M.O. I was missing something here._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster broke my train of thought, “We at first thought it was a weapon, but that may not quite be right. Your power appears to create and manipulate your own blood. While we don’t think your father knew you would trigger with such a power, it seems oddly well suited to his tech.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Piggot interrupted Armsmaster’s train of thought, “While it would be dangerous to let someone who isn’t a member of the Protectorate test unknown tinkertech, we think if you did it could lead to discovering what your father was trying to make.” Miss Militia seemed to frown a bit at that from what I could tell, but she didn’t speak up._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ They were implying that I would need to join the Wards then? I didn’t really want to wear those clothes. Actually, I really didn’t want to wear them. But no one had to see me do it and if it could give us a clue... _I hate everything sometimes. Correction: all the times. __ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ And by sometimes, I meant all the time. No, I was going to...maybe not be a hero, but at least I was going to figure out what happened. I couldn’t just mope forever and thinking back to now and that I could’ve done more wouldn’t help. I looked between Armsmaster and Piggot, “What do I have to do?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Piggot spoke first, “We would bring you down to the power testing facility. After confirming that you can, in fact, use your powers well enough that the tinkertech shouldn’t harm you, we’d have you try it on. Armsmaster will be there the entire time, as well as our research specialists and some PRT agents.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster added, “You’d be very safe and frankly if we did this with you as a Ward there would be a lot more paperwork, so it’s best to try before you decide either way.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I looked between them again, giving them a look of resignation, “Can he...not be there the entire time? It’s...the outfit is really embarrassing.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Piggot nodded dismissively, “Of course, we can maintain a level of privacy. Nothing that compromises your safety, but he won’t be in the room with you when you put it on. Miss Militia could if you’re more comfortable with a woman…?” Miss Militia nodded along to that, giving me a look of concern._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I shook my head, “I’d prefer to be alone for it.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Piggot slid a small stack of papers across the table to me. “Waiver for legal responsibility in the testing of the tinkertech, agreement to undergo power testing, non-disclosure for anything you should witness while in the building that may be sensitive.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I looked over each sheaf of paper, going through it. It was exactly what she said, a bunch of papers that essentially said everything I did was my own fault and I absolved the PRT of responsibility. The bit about being under 18 and needing the signature of a legal guardian seemed a bit of a flag, but I shrugged and signed after finishing skimming the legal jargon._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _I don’t think this would hold up in court, but then again I also don’t think it’d need to. _ I fought my way through the dense legal jargon and finished. Armsmaster appeared to have spaced out while I was busy, looking half-askew at a wall and most likely at something in his visor. I piped up, “Finished.” and slid the stack of papers back, signed and dated._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster and Piggot both nodded in unison. That was kind of disconcerting. Armsmaster got up, “If you’re ready we can begin immediately.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Piggot concurred with a short grunt, “The Wards are at school anyway.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I just mumbled my assent and got up as well, leaving the mildly comfortable chairs behind to follow Armsmaster and two PRT agents down the halls. We entered the elevator and it felt like we went down, though it was difficult to tell. After a surprisingly long walk we ended up in a dull gray chamber. The walls were pitted with small and somewhat larger indents and there seemed to be a small booth recessed on the end we entered._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster turned towards me, “First we just want a confirmation of your powers. You can decline to reveal your powers, but we won’t be able to continue.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I shook my head, “No, no. You already know as much as I do anyway.” I paused, “Do you have anything I can cut myself with? It’s uncomfortable to do it without a cut.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Not even phased, he produced a small device, “Press the side to deploy a blade. Be careful not to cut yourself too deeply.” He offered the device over, essentially a tinkertech switchblade it seemed._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The agents took positions by the door and Armsmaster stood back next to the booth on the other end. I walked out to the middle of the chamber. Guess that’s where I should stand. Looking down at the knife I hit the side and a small humming blade deployed. Bracing myself, I drew the blade across a small stretch of forearm, blood immediately welling to the surface._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I focused on that gentle pulsing in my head as it became more prominent. Not louder per say, but more insistent. I pushed on it and blood gushed from the wound. The agents startled slightly, holding position if looking a bit uneasy. I push harder and blood went from gushing to a spray, getting a good three feet around me soaking in a puddle of blood. It was getting on my shoes, so I moved it. I could feel it in my head, just as a presence almost or another limb. I had it float in large orbs around me, slowly rotating, while I pushed more blood out._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster watched, apparently entirely unbothered by the display. He called out, “Good. Can you try to see what your maximum flow rate is?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Maximum rate, huh? I pushed down on the pulsing hard and the spray turned into a hose. Blood gushed up and hit the ceiling and then I was scrambling to grab it all in my mind and keep it from straining my brand new set of clothes already and in the background Armsmaster was shouting, “That’s enough!”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Looking over my shoulder at the sound of something falling I saw that one of the agents had passed out and was slumped against the wall. I guess it was a bit more blood than even the PRT was used to seeing with cape fights._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I let the pulsing go, the flow of blood returning to an unnaturally steady welling. I tried pulling on the pulse and the blood flow stopped from the cut. The cut remained, but the blood shimmered red inside. I tried to remember how I had hardened it yesterday and did that to the blood at the cut. A crust formed inside the cut and the blood stopped, even without my direct control._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ At some point, several drains had appeared in the floor. Armsmaster kept his distance, “How much can you manipulate it?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I shrugged, “Not much? I can make shapes and I can move it, but that’s all so far. Also I can condense it or something? I managed to make my cut clot shut.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster gestured to the blobs with his hand, “Try to split it into successively smaller shapes.” Following his direction I split a sphere into two smaller spheres, and again, and again. When the spheres got to be about the size of a baseball I tried again, but something in my head slipped. The split sphere joined into the others. I tried again and the feeling of slipping return, the blood simply moving with my mental currents to join with the rest._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “That’s as small as I can go I think. It just kinda...slips after that.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ He nodded thoughtfully and seemed distracted for a moment, as if making a note inside his visor. He gestured to the wall to his right, my left. “Try hitting that as hard as you can.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I shrugged, gathering all the blood around me into a cylinder with me at the center. I closed my eyes, focusing and it slowly spun. As it got up in speed, I changed direction, having the liquid peel off in a stream at the wall, flying as fast as I could work it up. The stream pressure-washed the wall at the point of impact, stripping some of the paint. As the blood hit the wall I found I could still control it and I pulled it back to me._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster gave a single nod and a small barrier shot up, blocking my view of the wall I had been hitting. I pulled the blood around it and back to me. He gave a nod and turned to me again, “Thanks. You can send it down the drains now.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Complying, I pushed the river to the drains and let it wash away. I could still feel it as it sunk down the pipes and flowed away. Armsmaster looked satisfied with the tests, however, and it made me feel...not accomplished, but it was a step in the right direction._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster took a half minute, seemingly busy inside his visor. I glanced back at the door and a new PRT agent had replaced the one who had fainted before. Armsmaster’s voice grabbed my attention back, “Macrohemokinesis. I’d tentatively rate you at Shaker 4, Blaster 2.” I nodded, not entirely sure what the numbers implied._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Given your demonstration, we can safely move on to testing the tinkertech. If you choose to join the Wards, I’d like to do a more comprehensive exam.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Sure?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster simply nodded and started for the door, taking that as an answer for everything I supposed. I followed along and we moved back down the hall to the elevator. Heading deeper into the facility I noticed I could still feel the blood I sent down the drains. It was hard to get a sense for the distance, but it was there in the side of my head. I wondered how far my range was, since it seemed to not matter how much was in the way of it._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ We get off on what felt like a lower floor, passing through several layers of secured doors, scans, and guards. Apparently tinkertech warranted quite a bit of security. After being lead down another maze of hallways we entered what appeared to be another testing room. The walls were pristine, a pure white without feature, leaving the doors the only feature in the room. A uniformed man entered behind us, bearing a hefty box with a latch which he handed over to Armsmaster._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster took the box, setting it down in the center of the room and the latch clicked. “I’ll wait on the other side. Get changed and call out when you’re ready.” He turned sharply, heading out the doors. I eyed the box warily. Walking over and opening revealed the outfit, same as before though neatly folded this time. _I really don’t want to do this. _I mentally sighed, resigning myself to the fact that I had to choose between trying it on or living with the knowledge I didn’t help find my Dad’s murderer._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _Fuck. __ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Stripping down to my underwear, I put my clothes to the side and took the outfit. Black skirt, check. Black top with weird scarf thing and, ugh, suspenders, check. Little red bangle thing that was attached to one sleeve, put around my arm and check. Not even when Emma and I were friends would I have considered wearing this._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I grimaced and spoke out to the empty room, “Ready…” I mumbled afterwards, “...I guess.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ A voice, Armsmaster’s, came out of somewhere, “Great. Pull the tab on the interface on the right sleeve.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I looked down at the sleeve, looking for a tab. Oh right, that red bangle that was attached. Bracing myself, I pulled the tab and felt needles bite into my skin underneath, my power pulsing to life in the back of my head. It seemed to respond to the garment, blood pouring into the needles, replacing what it took each second._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Then it squirmed. The outfit squirmed. _That’s it, test over NOW. _ I grabbed at the fabric, trying to pull it off and felt the garment shifting, stretching changing, I could feel my blood mixing with the fabric. My power still recognized it, could still shape it. I pushed on it, trying to shred the outfit while I tore at it. The vague sensation that it was alive, almost aggressive hit me. I blacked out for half a second, absorbed in my power and panic. When I came back everything had stopped. I was still wearing the outfit, but it had stopped changing._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Are you okay?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ It felt different, there was a soft hum from behind my ears and I could feel my entire outfit as part of my power. The blood infusing it felt like maybe it could let me interact or control it? I looked down at myself and saw long black sleeves with a red stripe running down my arms. Large weirdly shaped shoulder pieces that started at my collarbone and flared out. Long boots that covered up to my thighs, accented with the same red stripe._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ And nothing in between. Oh sure, there was a mini-skirt, if it even qualified, and _technically _ it covered my chest, but it hardly put in much effort and-oh god. I had a chest. An honest to god chest that filled the top of the outfit._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _How the fuck does that even work?! Are they filled with blood or something? __ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _Who the hell is this outfit for and what the fuck Dad?! _ I crossed my arms trying to cover up, but there was too much skin and not enough arms. Looking around desperately, I had my shirt but it wouldn't fit over the bulky outfit. I pushed on the blood in the outfit and pulled some out, it was quickly replaced by the ever-drawing needles. I brought it close to my skin, forming a vague cloak around me._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Are you okay?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I looked up at the featureless room, “No! What the hell is going on? Why is it so skimpy and why do I have a chest!?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “It appears to use blood to fuel the technology from our readings, switching from a dormant form to an active one.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I shouted again, “Why is it so skimpy?!”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster’s uncomfortable voice replied, “It seems that the power is directly proportional to surface area possibly. More power might require more blood, which would be unfeasible?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I looked down at the outfit again, incensed, “Why not leave my arms bare then?! Or my legs!”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ A small pause, “I...don’t know.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I stood there, protecting what modesty I had left with the gently rippling cloak of blood. Better that than the outfit. No one must ever see me like this. Thank god for the mask. Seriously, what the hell is up with this outfit?_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _Was Dad some kind of...No. Definitely not. Don’t picture it, don’t picture it- GOD DAMN IT. __ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The voice again interrupted my brooding and unfortunately vivid imagination, “Do you feel any different? Can you manipulate the outfit at all?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I looked down with disgust, but it did feel different. It felt like a gentle humming behind my ears and like something turned on. I tried a little hop and got the feeling I could jump further. Bending my knees I lowered a bit and really tried to jump. I flew upwards, leaving the ground entirely and clearing it by a good 30 feet, hanging for a moment at the apex before falling back down._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I admit, I panicked a bit. Falling is scary. Falling 30 feet in a strange outfit is scarier. I flailed for a moment before impacting the floor, going down to a knee and a hand as I did in the classic three-point landing. There was a thump and nothing more, I raised myself to my feet uninjured. Shaking my legs revealed I hadn't just broken my legs. Wow, so it grants powers kind of. Not that I can ever wear it again._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Try running around the room.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I started off with a jog, I hadn’t jogged much in...well, ever. I had considered it back before the incident, but it had left me feeling so drained that the idea had never come to fruition. Now? Now I could sprint across the room with ease. I had to breath a bit and my form was probably terrible, but I was clearing distance at a speed that would’ve made Sophia look slow. It wasn’t fast like Velocity, but I could get up to a respectable 25 mph or so on a straight-away. After a minute I slowed to a halt, catching my breath a little, not so much winded as surprised._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _Bullshit Tinkers, how does an outfit put you in better shape anyway? How does it being skimpy somehow make it work better? _ I felt an unsettling mix of awe, disgust, anger, and the undercurrents of emptiness._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Excellent. We will provide a target, try hitting it.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster’s voice called out again as what looked like a fancy punching bag with a bullseye came out of the floor a little ways away. Walking over, and maintaining the blood cloak around my torso as best I could with the activity, I examined it. I threw a punch like normal and it hit just about as hard as an underweight teenage girl’s punch would. Picking anger out of the mix, I latched onto it, trying to settle on only one upset emotion at a time. Using that, I threw a punch; the target absorbed the blow unperturbed, but even I could tell I had hit it pretty hard. Much harder than I was capable of hitting._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I repeated a few times at Armsmaster’s instruction, laying into the target with some punches. He interrupted after a short time, “Next, we’ll fire some objects at you. Don’t dodge, though you can block with your body.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Projectiles? Was he going to shoot me with a gun or- a sandbag sadly plopped against my shoulder and fell to the ground. Then a sandbag a bit less sadly hit me in the chest, though it didn’t even register. Then one that looked like it could’ve actually left a bruise. Next came the heavier ones, then the rubber bullets. The rubber bullets stung and the test stopped there._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I was asked to try and manipulate the outfit, and while it felt like there was something there to control, I couldn’t make any changes beyond adding or subtracting blood from it. Adding more blood didn’t seem to make it stronger, though pulling out a lot of blood rapidly did weaken it until it drew replacement blood._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ The tests went on for a bit and I was allowed to change back into real clothing. That involved putting the tab, or key I guess, back in and the transformation reversed. SLightly more modest sailor outfit, no chest. Thank god, there’s no way I could actually have someone see me in that._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Armsmaster walked through the doors, “Thanks to you we have a lot more data than before. The outfit uses blood to empower the wearer, providing at least low-end Brute and Mover ratings. The technology behind it is still a mystery, though perhaps if we had a biotinker available to analyze it we could make some headway. This proves your father was definitely a Tinker.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “I’d guess from what we collected he was a recent trigger. The tinkertech seems crude, like he was still exploring his power. He probably didn’t know his speciality.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Speciality?” I inquired, absorbing the information._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ He nodded, “Most Tinkers have a speciality, something they excel at specifically. Your father’s looks to have been something related to blood, which explains your powers.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I looked at him nonplussed, “Why’s that?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “You know New Wave, right? Families of capes tend to inherit similar powers, children have powers related to that of their parents. You both have blood related powers.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ I nodded in return, remembering how New Wave all had flight, lasers, and force fields in various mixes. Except Panacea, but I guess every rule had its exception. I was just happy to be out of the outfit. The powers were cool, amazing even, but it just looked so….Well I simply couldn’t wear it as is._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Can it be tailored or something? To be less...skimpy?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ “Maybe. Tinker’s have limited overlap and trying to change another Tinker’s tech often results in breaking it. None of the Tinkers in Brockton Bay share much with your father’s tech.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ Well, that was terrible news, but at least it was a solid answer. I was getting a lot of answers now. Not about the important questions, the ones that drove me to even be here, but they were steps. I understood my power better, we understood what the outfit was for and my Dad’s tech._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ With more time, just maybe, I could get the answers that mattered._ _ _ _


	3. Interlude 1: Susan (PRT Agent)

### Interlude 1: Susan (PRT Agent)

Today’s docket:  
Stand guard by Classified Materials Room #3 for 2 hours.  
15 minute break.  
Report to Tinkertech Testing Room #2.  
File for compensation.  
Meal break, eat at cafeteria.  
Stand guard by Classified Materials Room #5 for 2 hours.

That last line she had added herself. Susan knew how Tinkertech testing usually ended, and it usually ending with qualifying for a bonus. Oh sure, the paperwork wasn’t always approved, but when you had to put a quantum harmonizer into your photonic resonation chamber it was a pretty good bet.

Who was with her today for that anyway? It was always at least two agents and whatever other support staff, a gaggle of researchers usually, were necessary. And Armsmaster.

_Oh joy, an unspecified amount of time with the Tinker._

Beach house in Malibu, Susan. Beach house in Malibu. Keep repeating that, keep filing for hazard pay, and keep your head down. You can do it. You won’t let any of these crazy capes blow you up and ruin your dreams.

Checking the roster revealed that Reave was with her today. Well, he wasn’t too bad. He usually had a few jokes and he hadn’t dropped a vat of Tinker goo all over her.

_Fucking Todd._

There had apparently been an incident earlier in the day. A fresh trigger at the hospital had filled half a room with blood and run off. Agents in the field were advised to keep an eye out for a young girl, 15, with long brown hair and a slender build. Rated Blaster 2. With blood. Well, that was new and gross. She wasn’t in the field tonight, but it was good to memorize for if the girl was still on the run tomorrow when she was out.

Running into capes without realizing it was pretty much the best way to end up in the hospital, waiting for Panacea’s exhausted face to come around a corner and switch you from 6-8 months recovery to good for your next shift. That poor girl worked herself too hard, but she was a god-send for the PRT.

She wouldn’t have wanted to work in a different city if it didn’t have a healer on call, and with how few healers there were it left her with few options. Brockton Bay was home anyway.

_Yeah, but you wouldn’t hesitate for a second to move somewhere sunny and warm._

Well, it was the line she fired off when she needed to look sufficiently enthusiastic and it worked.

Guard duty was the same as most days - completely uneventful.

No one was going to try and breach a vault in the sub-sub-sub basement of the PRT headquarters that they probably didn’t even know exist. And was on the same floor as the high-priority holding cells. Real quick trip from one to the other if you were dumb enough to try the first. No one ever had on her shift.

There was that one time that Uber and Leet had slipped in completely undetected via some Tinker bullshit Leet had used, but it had failed to turn on a second time and get them back out. They spent half the night in holding before something in their cell exploded and they had a chance to escape, which didn’t really concern anyone.

She even watched their streams occasionally, it was mostly weird geeky stuff, but kind of funny. Except that one about beating hookers, that was fucked up.

Break, use the restroom, consider taking up smoking again, ultimately decide against it.

Report to the Tinkertech Testing Facility. See Armsmaster at the door, pay appropriate respect to the Bullshit Tinker. Reave gave her a subtle nod, approaching at the same time. Armsmaster was speaking to some of the research staff.

Reave gave her a small smile, “So, what’dya think it is today? Another ray gun?”

She shook her head, “Nah, I bet it’ll be an explosive. Heard Lung’s got a bomb Tinker.”

Reave grimaced, “Eck, I don’t like things that might blow me up. More than any of the Tinker crap we test.”

“Oh don’t be a wuss, those walls withstood when Kid Win’s giant laser cannon blew up, we’ll be fine.”

Armsmaster turned, speaking adroitly, “We’ll be testing an outfit.”

“Like power-armor, Sir?” Reave asked, appearing a bit relieved at the prospect. Defense gadgets were, as a rule, safer.

Armsmaster considered for a second and nodded, “Similar.”

\---

Reave shouted from the center of the testing chamber, “This is NOT similar to power armor!”

He was dressed in a black sailor outfit that was obviously intended for someone shorter, skinnier, and female. Chest hair ruining the effect of the showing midriff, scarred beefy legs not totally ruining the short skirt, and the barely restrained indignation and flushed face of one upset PRT agent ruining any chance of her not laughing.

There was no way in hell she was wearing that, compensation pay be damned. When Armsmaster had suggested it, she had asked how come he didn’t ask Reave, after all they had to comply with gender equality regulation. He had taken that as a logical rebuttal and they had to flip a coin. She swore Armsmaster smirked ever so slightly when he saw Reave would be the ‘winner’ of that.

Susan watched from the very safe observational box that looked into the room via one-way glass. Standing beside several researchers who were calibrating instruments and making final checks. Once they gave the go-ahead, Armsmaster spoke into a microphone.

“Pull the tab for the arm interface.”

“You said this would be like power armor! Sir.”

“It’s similar in that it can be worn. Pull the tab.”

A not-so-muttered, “Bullshit.” was caught by the microphones and Reave sighed heavily. He looked down at his arm and pulled the little tab out. There was a pause and then the outfit...rippled. Then it squirmed.

Then Reave screamed.

It had only taken a second, but the outfit had looked like it had consumed him briefly before spitting him back out. The scientists were in a frenzy looking at the readings and Armsmaster had leaned forward in interest. Reave was still blubbering incoherently about something and writhing on the floor.

The outfit was definitely different now, long black gloves and boots covering Reave and well...not much else. Enough, but wow. She had not wanted to see that much of Reave ever. Poor guy.

_ He should get that chest looked at, are those tumors?_

\---

The test hadn’t lasted long. Between Reave’s extreme discomfort, Armsmaster’s growing annoyance at his inefficiency, and the blood loss they had to call it a day pretty quickly. Turns out the tech needed blood to run, and a whole damn lot of it. Reave wouldn’t be donating blood or doing much besides binging on OJ and steak for a few weeks to build his RBC count back up. It also didn’t seem to play nice with Reave, he complained it was hard to move in and growled at him. No one else had heard the growls, but they were willing to quietly give him a pass after that trauma. She had declined to see if it would play nicer with someone of the supposedly intended sex.

Overall it had been pretty much a loss, not much actual testing occurred and she doubted she’d qualify for any comp pay from this one.

Reave, however...

\---

Piggot looked at the form that had found its way to her desk. She skimmed over it, pinching the bridge of her nose. After a sigh, she quickly scrawled a signature across and pushed it to the ‘done’ pile.

“Fucking Tinkers” she muttered.


	4. Chapter 3: Junketsu

### Chapter 3: Junketsu

Armsmaster took me to the cafeteria. He didn’t eat with me, mumbling off something about it being inefficient, but it was nice of him to take the time to show me. He was the leader of the Protectorate, so I could hardly fault him for being busy.

Not like Dad.

Dad managed to find a way to be too busy to take care of me. Apparently too busy making perverted sailor suits to really pay attention to me. Or like Blackwell, who always managed to find an excuse to kick me out when I tried to raise any of my issues. Or like Mr. Gladly, all too happy to be the popular kid while pretending to be a teacher. Armsmaster was the first adult in years who actually seemed to care, even if it was just a little.

The cafeteria food was actually pretty good. It was several steps above what got served at Winslow, though that wasn’t exactly a difficult feat to accomplish. I hadn’t eaten in a cafeteria in a while actually, I recalled. The bullying had been too constant for me to eat in any sort of peace there. I had to find nooks and crannies in the school, forgotten by most students, in order to have any semblance of peace. And those had always been violated in the end by the terrible trio.

Finishing my food, I was escorted back to my room by one of the guards. I wasn’t sure whether it was them being helpful or me being restricted, but I kept my judgement suspended for the moment. Entering the privacy of my room, I mulled over my options for awhile. The sailor suit was disgusting, but it had revealed a bit about how Dad had worked as a Tinker. It also increased my powers massively. I was a squishy person without it, with it I had my hemokinesis on top of super-strength, speed, and durability at the least. If it just wasn’t so skimpy then maybe I could justify it.

But it was just so

damn

revealing.

My thoughts were interrupted by a buzz from the little notification panel and the voice of Miss Militia, “Hello, are you ready to meet the Wards?”

My heart jumped a little in anxiety. Meeting the Wards seemed like a good idea, but trying to talk to people my age was…difficult. I nodded, only to realize that the intercom probably didn’t speak non-vocal gestures and added, “Yeah, one sec.”

I checked my outfit over, I looked like a cape geek. Great. I debated switching to a Battery shirt, but would that offend Miss Militia? Shoot, I’d just stay as is. I grabbed the domino mask, sliding it back on and stepped out into the hallway.

Miss Militia stood outside waiting for me. Her eyes gave her a friendlier feel than Armsmaster, though I didn’t really know much about her. “Great, follow me then.” She started to walk, leading the way.

“Have you chosen a cape name yet?”

I shook my head, “No...I hadn’t really considered it yet.”

“That’s fine, you’ve haven’t had much time to think about it. Do you have any preference for how to be introduced to the Wards?”

“Please keep my real name secret for now.” I quickly replied, a bit worried that I had already lost the chance to have a secret identity.

“Of course.” She lead us to an elevator. A buzz sounded as we slid to a stop. “A warning for the Wards that they have a guest coming.” After roughly half a minute the doors opened. In front of me was a large room with a modular set up. Walls that could be shifted and moved, some obviously moved to set up as quarters for the Wards. A large series of display monitors sat on one side of the room surrounded by six chairs. The Wards were lounging across the space, various distinctly costumed shapes relaxing in the dome-shaped room.

A tall boy in rust red walked up to me, smiling.

“Hello Aegis. I’d like you to meet a potential Ward. She hasn’t chosen a name yet.”

He extended a hand out to me, “Hey, always good to meet another hero. I’m Aegis, leader of the Wards.”

I shook his hand with a nervous smile in return._ I hope I actually remembered to smile back._

He gestured around the room, pointing to each member in turn, “That’s Clockblocker, Vista, Kid Win, and Browbeat.”

The Wards got up, wandering over to form a small semi-circle around me and Miss Militia.

Miss Militia asked, “Gallant and Shadow Stalker on patrol?”

“Yes Ma’am. Triumph is dealing with personal matters.” Aegis replied.

She nodded, “I’ll leave you to talk with our young heroine here for a bit.” Miss Militia left, heading back to the elevator as I watched her leave in a panic. She abandoned me around a bunch of people I didn’t know, damn it.

Vista skipped closer, “Hey! Nice to meet you, it’d be great to have another girl on the team.”

Aegis grunted, “We have Shadow Stalker.”

“She doesn’t count and you know it.” Clockblocker retorted lazily.

“Clock, shush. That’s no way to talk about a teammate.” said Aegis, cutting him off. “Browbeat here is also new, he joined recently.”

Browbeat gave a wave and smile, “Yup. Maybe if you joined they’d stop teasing me about being the newbie.”

Clockblocker idly chewed something, “Nope, not gonna happen.”

“You’re interested the Wards, is there anything you want to know?” Aegis asked, turning his attention back to me.

I shrugged uncertainly, “Uh, everything? I don’t really know much about the Wards. I only got my powers yesterday.”

Clockblocker raised his eyebrows, “Yesterday? Wow, Piggy went for the hard sale, huh. Well lemme tell you, it’s not as fun as they make it look. A lot of it is just sitting at the monitor or going to PR events. We don’t get to fight any of the big bads.”

Aegis frowned, adding, “Clock, show some respect for the Director.” He sighed, looking to me, “He’s not entirely wrong. The Wards is supposed to be more of a training program, so we get the safe patrols and aren’t brought in for big fights, like Lung. But there’s also a lot of benefits. You get direct experience with the safety of a team that has your back. You get to figure out your powers. You get the support of the PRT, which means your costume and gear. We get a stipend also.”

Vista chimed in, “And friends that you can talk to about your powers.”

Interestingly, Aegis and Browbeat both nodded at that. It did sound like a lot of advantages. But now that I had the power to change things, did I want to be restricted to what the PRT thought was acceptable behavior for a Ward? PR events sounded like a waste of time.

“Obviously you don’t have to decide now. Do you want to share you powers? Mine’s that I can change my body and fly. So I have redundant organs, super-strength, standard brute packaging sort of stuff.”

Kid Win spoke up, “I’m a Tinker. I build things like laser pistols and hoverboards.”

Vista, “I can bend space, making it bigger or smaller.” She demonstrated, taking a step and suddenly being further across the room. It was disconcerting to look at directly as she popped back.

“I can freeze objects in time. They can’t be moved, harmed, or anything while frozen.”

“Short range TK and some stuff similar to Aegis, I can alter my own body to have more strength.”

I nodded slowly. They seemed so open and friendly. It was different and part of me felt like it had to be a trap. That Emma or Sophia was around some corner, waiting to catch me falling for it so they could mock me for being so naive. I swallowed my nerves and spoke, “I control blood.”

There was a pause.

“My own blood. Just my own.”

Clockblocker laughed, “Oh thank god. So no evil puppeting people with their own blood?”

I shook my head. Vista seemed to have recovered and was smiling again, “That’s pretty cool! Do you have to worry about passing out a lot?”

“No, I can also make more. I think. I haven’t had trouble yet.”

Aegis nodded along, “That is an interesting power. You might synergize well with Vista or Clock, sounds like a bit of Shaker, a bit of Blaster.”

Clockblocker cackled from the chair, “Oh yeah, a frozen wall of blood! That’d freak people right out. I can get behind that. You should pick a cool name like Sanguine, or Crimson.”

Vista face-palmed, doing that weird space stretching thing to smack Clockblocker from her position, “Sanguine is already a cape, and Crimson was a Slaughterhouse 9 member.”

He winced, “Oh, yeah, maybe not those then. How about a vampire pun? Like-”

I heard the smacking of flesh again as Vista repeated her previous action. Aegis gave a light chuckle, “Sorry about Clockblocker, he can be like that. You get used to it pretty quickly and sometimes he even makes a real joke.”

“You wound me Aegis!”

“Gallant and Shadow Stalker aren’t here, but they’re both good teammates too.”

There were at least two snorts of derision and one glance sideways at that. I could tell that Aegis was obviously trying to play up the better aspects of the Wards. Clockblocker seemed more directly honest, as did Vista. Kid Win was mostly hanging back, working on something on his tablet.

We ended up speaking for awhile. Or more accurately, they spoke and occasionally spoke at me even, while I listened. I learned a lot about the daily life of a Ward, how bad Clockblocker’s jokes really were, and what they were like. Afterwards Miss Militia returned and I was lead back to my room. The Wards all said their good-byes and I was honestly a bit sad to go. There hadn’t been any cruel tricks or pranks. It had just been a bunch of teens joking around without joking at me, mostly.

I laid down on my bed that night, the events of earlier still running through my brain. The Wards had been nice. Pleasant, even. It certainly wasn’t a perfect arrangement. I wanted to go out and do something, not sit at a monitor for a few hours. On the other hand, I had no other ideas. I couldn’t live on my own legally. I doubted the state would accept ‘I want to live on my own to be a vigilante’ as an acceptable course. Being in the Wards would mean having somewhere to live, regular food, and even back-up.

I had always wanted to be a hero when I was little. Every little girl wanted to be Alexandria. Here I had a chance to do that. I could change the world. It wouldn’t be fast, but it would be the first steps to becoming a hero that could make Brockton Bay better. My own Shaker power, it was Shaker, right? My own Shaker power wasn’t the strongest, but with a team I could do something.

And, even though I hated the thought, if I was with the Wards I’d have access to my Dad’s tech. With both teammates and the suit, I wouldn’t just be able to fight petty crime. I would be able to bring order to the city, accomplish the dreams my Dad had pursued his entire life. Stop this shithole from ruining anyone else’s childhood.

I fell asleep to the dreams of fixing Brockton Bay. To having teammates. To maybe even having friends someday.

\---

Apparently joining the Wards meant paperwork. A lot of paperwork. And a lot of signing. And maybe signing myself over to be a ward of the state or something? I was getting really tired at that point and I think I read it through, but honestly I could’ve hallucinated that part.

Piggot looked at me, “You want what?”

I sighed, wincing, “I want my father’s tinkertech.”

Piggot looked over and down at me. _That chair must be cranked up for height._ Her brow furrowed, “First off, no. Second, why?”

I hunched over in the seat a bit, embarrassed, “Because of two reasons. It’s my father’s only finished device, it’s the last thing he made. And it gives me a serious power boost. I go from a low end Shaker to a Brute with a lot of flexibility. I don’t want to be a backline hero.”

Piggot folded her arms, “The entire idea of the Wards is to provide a safe training ground for, as you call them, backline heroes. The Wards shouldn’t be in the front-line action anyway.”

“Aegis is graduating soon, right? You’re gonna need someone. Someone who can take hits.”

“And why should it be you?”

“Because I’m the only one the tech will work for.” I stated with pseudo-confidence, hoping it was true enough.

Piggot narrowed her eyes, “I don’t know who let that little secret out, but just because that’s true doesn’t make you our only option. We could just as easily retain it strictly for research.”

I quelled my frustration, breathing manually to focus. “It’s my condition for joining the Wards. I lost everything. I barely have any mementos of my mom left and my dad spent all of his energy on work. I won’t give up the last piece of him, even if it is some weird, stupid outfit. I’m not losing another piece of my parents. Not again. The fact that it makes me a lot stronger as a cape?...Well, it’d be better for everyone if it was harder for me to get hurt and I could do more.”

Piggot closed her eyes, looking distinctly unhappy. After a long pause, she spoke, “I don’t make it a habit to indulge the fantasies of teenagers…”

A pregnant silence hung at the end of the sentence.

“But, we may be able to make a small concession, depending on your cooperation in some parts of the process…”

In the end, I got my deal. It meant more paperwork for me, but I was given full ownership of the outfit, an unusual exemption for a Ward. I had mandatory meetings with PR and a bunch of caveats, but there it was. This time I was definitely signing papers making me a ward of the state and all the legal goodness that entailed. Stack after stack of paperwork assaulted me and unfortunately I couldn’t just blast it away with blood or hide from it. It took several hours, promises of some additional forms later, and a pep-talk from Assault before I finished.

Two pep talks from Assault.

I handed him the last paper as I flipped through and signed. He surprised me with another small sheaf and held up a finger, “Now before you look at me with puppy dog eyes, this is the fun part. You get to pick a cape name!”

I gave him a dead flat stare.

He returned with a shit-eating grin, “C’mon! Pick something the PRT will hate, it’s hilarious.”

“What, like Clockblocker?” I said in a deadpan tone to match my stare.

“Yeah, like that. That was a great day. You shoulda seen Halbeard trying to tackle him off stage as he was halfway through announcing it.” He wiped a tear from his eye, possibly imaginary.

I frowned a bit, “I can’t think of a name related to blood that doesn’t sound villainous.”

He nodded sagely, “Yeah, that’s definitely gonna be hard. Just don’t pick some pretentious that no one can pronounce. Hey, what about Blush? That’s blood-related and totally-”

I threw paperweights at him, his hands raised to fend off the flurry of office supplies.

“Alright, alright, something else! Anemia? Bloodsucker?”

I pelted him with what little supplies I had left. A name was really hard. I wanted something heroic, that was related to my power, and made people totally forget about the weird outfit. There were a lot of evil sounding names, a lot of weird mythological names that were kinda cool but obscure, and then a lot of stupid names.

For now, I put down a simple word: Ichor. The blood of gods and deadly to mortals. My blood fueled tinkertech and could be wielded as weapon, so it seemed kind of appropriate. I could always change it later. Probably.

\---

“Alright guys, listen up! You’ve got a new pal as of today. Everyone gather around.”

Assault waited while the Wards made their way over to me, reminiscent to yesterday except it had the feeling of increased formality. The colorful costumes of the Wards created a motley array of hues, but the vivid colors also served to present a message. The Wards were heroes, people you could trust to help.

“Welcome your new fellow Ward: Ichor!”

There was a smattering of greetings as I looked about nervously from behind the red domino mask. Assault had insisted I come in costume saying they’d have to see me in it sooner or later. It wasn’t active right now, god no, but it was still a bit skimpy as a sailor suit. I wore leggings to make it a bit better, but that didn’t fix the midriff issue.

I swallowed the lump in my throat- “Hey.”- and gave a half-assed wave. _I should’ve put more energy into it, said something more._

“I know most of you kids met yesterday, but Ichor why don’t you explain your powers for everyone?”

“Yeah, sure. I can make blood and manipulate it, so I can blast people with it or make waves of it.”

“Manton-limited, don’t piss yourself there Triumph.” Assault laughed and Triumph, in his gold and white gladiator style outfit, looked suitably red in response. Oh right, he wasn’t here yesterday. “Anyway, have fun kids. Show Ichor the ropes and play nice.” He said in a sing-song whistle as he headed for the elevator.

There was a pause as he left and Clockblocker spoke, “Soooo, how the hell did you get that outfit past PR anyway?”

I blushed as Gallant frowned at him. “Clock.”

“Oh come on! I can’t be the only one wondering. They nearly bit my head off just for having an ‘inappropriately placed clock hand’ on mine!” He bemoaned.

I shook my head and replied, “No, it’s ok. It’s Tinker-tech, I haven’t figured out how to change how it looks yet.”

Kid Win raised an eyebrow. “Tinker-tech? Do you have a Tinker rating?”

“No, someone else made it. I had it before I joined. It synergizes with my power and gives me a low-level Alexandria package basically.” I explained, somewhat uncomfortable with topic.

Vista cooed, “Wow! That’s awesome, so you can do long range fighting and close range. That’s pretty rare.”

Aegis nodded along. “A second Brute would be really helpful too. I can see why they let you keep it.”

Shadow Stalker commented from the back, “Yeah, but why does it have to look so trashy?”

I shrunk a bit under the insult, already self-conscious about how I didn’t exactly have a showy figure for it to show. Several of the Wards turned at her, various mixes of displeasure directed at her, making Clockblocker look like he was practically complimented in turn.

“Just because you’re jealous that the new girl can show some skin isn’t an excuse to be rude Shadow Stalker,” Clockblocker quickly added with a shit-eating grin.

“Do I need to speak with the Director about your behavior?” Triumph said in a low tone.

She scowled back at them both. “Whatever. Cool, met the new kid, job done.” She stalked off to another room, appropriately enough.

Aegis sighed and Gallant spoke, with an apologetic smile, “Sorry about her. She’s like that to everyone. We all think it’s awesome that you have a costume that also gives you extra powers.” His statement accompanied by a thumbs-up from Clockblocker.

I tried to return the smile. Gallant’s kind words were refreshing, no one at WInslow ever apologized for someone being an ass to me. “It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

Aegis shook his head. “It’s not okay around here. I’ll have a talk with her later.” He switched from a scolding tone to a happier look, “Anyway, it’s great to have you. We don’t spend all day with the masks on, so let me introduce myself properly.” He took the domino mask off, which clearly didn’t match his rust-red outfit. “I’m Carlos.”

Clockblocker flipped his mask off. “Dennis.”

Vista chimed in, taking her light green helmet and visor off, “Missy.”

Gallant stated, “Dean.”

Triumph slid his golden lion’s helmet off. “Rory.”

Kid Win with his yellow and gold helmet. “Chris.”

Browbeat spoke something that I didn’t hear in the chorus of names, but I was too embarrassed to ask him to repeat it. I looked at the smiling faces surrounding me. They all trusted me with their civilian identities, they had been willing to go out of their way to defend me in front of Shadow Stalker.

I slid the mask off. “Taylor.”

\---

The Wards were fun. Actually fun. I didn’t really feel comfortable with them yet, but they laughed and joked and groaned and whined like good friends with each other. The difference between now and my life before was that they included me in it. _Is it just because I have powers? Does that make people see me so differently?_

The doubt niggled at me, gnawing away in my brain like an insidious worm. I couldn’t help but doubt if they were being genuine. Or consider why I was suddenly accepted now and not before. Powers shouldn’t magically fix everything, they didn’t justify treating someone differently. Yet here I was.

But I couldn’t so easily throw it away either. I had something. I had friends, maybe. I had powers, definitely. I had a purpose and the tools to pursue it, certainly. I didn’t have my Dad, or my house, or anything from my old life, but what about it was worth saving? Mom had died and after that everything had been one steady string of disappointments and fuck-ups. Even Dad had left me in the end. I may not have them, but I had their memories and I had a place to be now.

I had things and while I didn’t trust them yet, I wasn’t going to lose them. Not to my own cynicism or to anything else. They put their trust in me. Armsmaster had given me a second chance. I had direction. Find my Dad’s murderer and clean-up Brockton Bay.

Aegis and Gallant showed me the ropes, with Vista adding in tips from time to time. They showed me where my room was, bigger than the others since I would live on base for the time being. They showed me how to work the monitors, the patrol schedules, all the forms that needed to be done and for what.

The Wards were a well-oiled miniature version of the Protectorate. They did a lot of the same things, just with less risk-taking and more focus on safety. I chafed a bit at how much it would restrain me. Still, I needed experience and more than anything this would give it to me.

We ordered a more professional looking mask for my costume. It would still just cover my eyes, but it would be more stylized. Blood red to match the accents on my outfit and almost visor like in that it came to a sharp point on both ends. We debated how to hide my hair until I vetoed, deciding I’d let it flow out the back rather than try to hide it in a helmet or whatnot.

I would be going back to school in two weeks. I was being given time off to recover from the trauma of losing my Dad and also being transferred to Arcadia. I had mentioned no more Winslow to Piggot and she had quickly enough consented to push for a transfer. Two weeks off from school was nice, it would give me time to get settled and frankly any time away from Winslow was to be savored. The bullying almost felt like a past life and I had no desire to return to it. Emma and her cronies couldn’t touch me at Arcadia.

Evening fell and my first patrol was up. I was being accompanied by Aegis and Vista, who were going to show me the ropes of going out on patrol. I considered it as I got ready to head out. We made a pretty strong team, since I complimented aspects of both Aegis and Vista. We could probably deal with a lot with the three of us together, though Aegis had stressed it would be an uneventful practice run.

I pulled the domino mask on and joined Aegis and Vista in the main area.

“All ready to head out Ichor?”

I nodded, checking my outfit for the umptempth time, “I think so.”

Aegis smiled lightly as he led the way outside via the special ‘capes on duty’ exit, “Don’t worry too much. Tonight’s just showing you the route, maybe stopping a mugging if we happen on one.”

He floated into the air as we got outside. “You’ve got a Mover rating right? Can you follow if I fly?”

I looked down at my outfit nervously and nodded, “Uh...yeah. One second.” I pulled the tab out of the fingerless glove that I wore and felt the needles prick my skin, blood welling up into them and my power pulsing to life with a strong thrum. The outfit coalesced around me, changing shape like before. Again I felt that underlying current in the outfit, something almost animalistic and violent under the cloth veneer. I quickly generated a cloak of blood, wrapping it around me to hide the outfit.

Vista stood there, mouth slightly agape. “A-are you...did you just transform? Like a magical girl?”

Aegis blushed slightly, he must’ve caught sight of my costume before I could cover up, “So you, uh, transform to get your powers?”

My cheeks burning I looked away, “Y-yeah. It runs off my blood somehow.” It felt like the outfit almost grumbled at my embarrassment.

Vista slowly nodded as she registered that, “So you make blood and that fuels it? That’s really cool actually. You can make a lot of blood, so it’s almost an unlimited fuel source.”

Aegis turned, looking at Vista with a bit of surprise before tuning in, “Uh, yeah that’s true. Damn, I wish Piggot would let me have secret Tinker bullshit.” He laughed a little at the end.

I looked around, thankful no one else had seen me before my cloak was up, “Can we start or…?”

Aegis and Vista both nodded, Aegis flying out in a straight line and Vista warping the streets to follow along. She made her way up a building with a brain-bending series of space-bends that I hitched a ride on. Then it was a mix of her bending space to travel by rooftop and my enhanced speed and strength. I could carry her for big jumps and together we kept up with Aegis’ casual flight pace pretty easily.

Aegis, meanwhile, mentioned the normal operating procedures and made notes as we went. Wards went out in duos for safety, we were to report any activity before engaging, suspected capes were to be given extra caution. He mentioned which streets and areas typically had crime, though I already knew most of that from living in Brockton Bay.

I listened attentively. Mostly. The wind rushing through my hair as I leapt from roof to roof, the feel of the ground dropping beneath me, it was all exhilarating. Sure, it wasn’t flying, but damn. I could jump really high. It made my blood pump. I mean, more than it already was since this outfit drank a few liters every ten minutes or so.

We were nearing the end of our loop, about to head back when we saw a glow in the distance. The warm glow of orange and yellow lit up a few miles away. Aegis floated down next to us.

“That looks like a fire. I’ll call it in.”

As he started to speak into his helmet a small boom rocketed past us on the air, the glowing embers in the distance now spreading much further.

Vista strained to see out further, “Whatever that is, it’s getting worse. Should we head over?”

Aegis spoke into his helmet and shook his head after a moment. “Not on Ichor’s first night out. I’ve reported it to the-” Another explosion rippled through the air, momentarily drowning him out as we all hunched over reflexively.

I spoke up, “Let’s go. I joined to be a hero, right?”

Aegis shook his head, “Piggot would have my head on a stick, it’s too far from our route and it’s your first day.”

Vista frowned, “We can help with fires though. She’d be great at dousing it!”

I nodded in agreement, adding on, “I can put it out faster than a firetruck.”

Aegis opened his mouth to speak before pausing. Something in his helmet talking to him. He landed fully on the rooftop and looked stiff. “We’re not going. It’s Lung and possibly Bakuda.”

Vista stood silent for a moment, stilled by the news.

I looked over at Aegis, confused, “Doesn’t that mean they need us even more?”

Vista shook her head, “No, the Protectorate will be called in for this. Lung is too dangerous for us to fight. Only thing we can do is head back to base and be ready if they need us to cover something else while they handle Lung.”

I deflated at even Vista siding against the idea of going over. I knew Lung was the most dangerous parahuman in Brockton Bay but it still felt wrong to just leave when I could help. If I had powers, didn’t that mean it was my responsibility to use them?

But leave we did. The return loop of the patrol was subdued, Aegis’ and Vista’s commentary lacking the previous light-hearted tone it had before. The knowledge that the Protectorate was fighting Lung as he destroyed part of the Docks had taken the wind from our sails. With a drag at the end of each step, we headed back to the Wards HQ. I dropped the transformation as soon as we got close enough and followed Aegis and Vista in.

Clockblocker was on monitor duty, “What happened to you guys? You look like you just discovered the Earth Aleph Matrix sequels.”

Aegis rolled his shoulders, “Patrol got a little grim when we saw Lung torching the Docks. Any word on that?”

Clockblocker shook his head, glancing at the bank of monitors as he did, “Nope. Just to be ready if they need us to help contain the fire or clean-up.”

Vista and I collapsed on the couch, peeling our respective head coverings off. I let my head loll back on the couch as I contemplated the situation, eyes closed. Aegis was speaking to me, “That was a good patrol anyway. Do you have any questions?”

I replied, still a bit down, “No. Thanks for showing me around.”

A surprised voice cut through the mood of the room, “Hebert?”

I knew that voice. I knew that voice, calling my name all too well. I bolted up, turning my head towards the source. Shadow Stalker stood in one of the doorways, unmasked. Sophia Hess was staring straight at me.

Sopiha Hess was Shadow Stalker. My tormentor had been a Ward.

“Holy shit. It really is you. You’re Ichor.”

Aegis looked between the two of us, concerned, “You two know each other?”

Sophia laughed, “Wow, you disappeared from school for this? To wear a slutty outfit and pretend to be a hero?”

I stood up, I felt my body shake. Not nervousness. Maybe it was nervousness. It was energy. The sense that I was about to lose everything a second time. It was incredulity. It was betrayal. The Protectorate, the PRT, were complicit in my bullying. They had been housing the Ward who did it this entire time.

It was anger.

I didn’t even notice my outfit transform, the blood pounding into the cloth faster than before,stronger. The fibers clung to me, I could feel an intelligence in them, a life. It wanted to attack, to maim. The outfit was pulling at my muscles to attack Sophia as she stood there with that smug grin on her features.

“Sophia! Taylor! Stop!” Aegis shouted. Clockblocker had stood up from his seat, looking back and forth as Vista rolled upright.

"God you really are weak Hebert. What are you going to do, bleed on me? Or you going to tackle me in your stripperific costume?"

I felt my blood boil as I drew a large portion out of the shoulder of my costume, flinging the glob in an arc at Shadow Stalker. She dove out of the wave, grabbing the crossbow from her back. Aegis flew in-between us, shouting. I couldn’t hear him over the pounding of the blood in my ears.

I charged Sophia, dashing across the floor in mere moments. Aegis moved to intercept me and I kicked out for his chest. He crossed his arms to block and was thrown back from the force, hurtling towards the wall as he tried to get control back. Sophia had phased into her shadow state as she took aim with the crossbow. I threw up a massive wall of blood, hurtling it at her as I moved forward behind it.

A bolt materialized behind the wall, hitting into my leg with a sharp crack as it broke on me. I felt the sting of it as I looked for Sophia. She was a few feet to my left, looking dismayed and angered at the fact the bolt hadn’t hurt me. I saw Clockblocker and Vista approaching out of the corner of my eye and I threw up walls of blood. The walls spread up to the ceiling, forming an oval with only Shadow Stalker and myself in the middle. A goblet hit her from behind, knocking Sophia to the ground with a nasty thud. She looked up, rubbing her temple.

“Do it. You won’t, you’re weak Hebert. You always have been. If you couldn’t fight back at school, what makes you think you can do it here?”

I strode towards her, the high heels of the outfit clicking lightly on the ground. I felt Aegis try to fly into my wall, sending a body sized pool of blood to crash into him, veering him off course and into another wall of blood.

“You know you, Emma, and Madison are the reason I have my powers?” I laughed a bit, “It’s fucked up. You tortured me so much I triggered. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that’s when I got my powers.” I could feel my blood almost hum with power, the outfit resonating with my anger.

“So? You were weak. Even after you got powers you were weak. You didn’t do anything with them.”

“You know what’s fucked up?” My voice rose. I could feel Vista warping space to try and make a path through my blood but I sent more blood every second, thickening the walls, weaving strong currents in them. I batted Aegis back again as he tried to dive through. “What’s fucked up is that the PRT protected you. They let you fucking bully me every day, ruin my life, and then call you a hero on the news.”

I heard a shout, Triumph had arrived and was trying to scatter my wall. I felt it ripple and shift as he and Aegis worked together to push through it. There were panicked shouts on the other side.

“What’s fucked up is you trying to act like you’re better than me. It pisses me off Hebert.” She raised the crossbow, firing a bolt again. I glared at her, the last one had broken on me, this one would too. Except this one suddenly blossomed pain in my chest. It hadn’t shifted out of its shadow state until it was passing through me, the shaft sticking out from right below my left shoulder. I screamed, collapsing the walls around us and bringing them down on her. Hundreds of liters of blood rushed in, Sophia shifted to her shadow state.

Then something odd happened. She squirmed in her shadow state and reverted back, gasping for breath and finding only blood. She tried to shift back again, but repeated the exercise, stuck in the massive dome of blood I had made. I felt a blast behind me as Triumph managed to push of the blood back. I clutched my chest and the arrow in it as I watched, standing in the massive blob with my breath held. It would’ve been easy enough to form an air bubble, but I didn’t want to.

The Wards pounded against my power, but there was simply too much by now. Triumph could make some splash away, Aegis could try to dive in, Browbeat could try to push through, Vista could make it thinner, and Kid Win could vaporize chunks of it but in the end I had enough. They wouldn’t get rid of enough to reach me, or her, in time. I wouldn’t kill her, but I couldn’t stand the look in her eyes. Her looking down on me, spitting on me. So I’d keep her under until she passed out.

It happened quickly, if she had managed to hold her breath when she had switched back from her shadow state it would’ve taken longer, but this took barely any time at all. When I saw her collapse, I form a bubble and the blood rushed back into my costume. I could feel it respond, my power surge a bit at the sudden influx. It wanted me to hurt her more, to fight more.

I looked at the prone form of Shadow Stalker, Sophia Hess, and turned to the Wards. They all looked at me, surprised, confused, hurt, and ready to act. I switched my outfit off, feeling the animalistic urge to hurt and dominate suppressed, though not totally gone. There was an intelligence in there that had awakened, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. It didn’t speak, but I don’t think it needed to, as it only had one desire. It waited under the surface. Waiting to take control and fight.

Collapsing to my hands and knees, I let the world pass around me as I fell into my own head.

\---

I was moved, gently herded from one room to another. Quiet murmurs that faded into white noise surrounded me. My wound was cleaned and dressed, the arrow removed. I was led to a seat in an empty room, one of the many meeting rooms in the building. Clockblocker stayed with me, the glossy white panels of his armor fading into the off-white walls of the room nicely.

I had trusted them. I had listened to Armsmaster, I had signed my life over to Piggot, and this entire time they had been harboring Sophia. There’s no way they couldn’t have known what she was doing. If they didn’t, they were wilfully ignorant. If they did, they approved of it. I shuddered at the two positions I found myself stuck between. Clockblocker fidgeted a bit across the table from me.

The silence drew out between us for a long time. I didn’t keep track of how long, though actually given Clockblocker’s costume it wouldn’t have been too hard. Are the clocks accurate or just random? I didn’t look at him though. I wasn’t sure I could. He had been a bit annoying, but he had accepted me. I had only just joined the Wards and I already had broken every rule.

What would happen? I couldn’t expect this to be forgiven as easily as my whiplash when I first met Armsmaster. The PRT basically owned my life until I was 18 after I had signed everything over. Legally, I was at their mercy. Tactically, they were my best bet at finding more about who killed my Dad. Logistically, it was hard to be an independent with no resources that the PRT was actively pissed at.

Clockblocker spoke, a stammer at the start before he grew comfortable breaking the stillness, “So, uh, just so you know, none of us liked her much either. But daaaamn.” He gave a low whistle through the covered mouth.

Armsmaster chose that moment to walk in, glancing at Clockblocker, who got up and walked out with a bit of a sheepish hunch to his figure. Armsmaster sat down at the table across from me. He looked tired, his posture sagged, he held his hands in front of him, fingers interlaced. A deep sigh emanated from him as he settled in. He smelled of smoke.

“I’ve reviewed the video footage of the incident as well as the testimonies of the Wards who were present. Before we go any further, I want to know what relationship do you have with Shadow Stalker?”

I looked up at him slowly, “Why? What does it matter? Aren’t I in trouble either way?”

He frowned slightly at that, “You attacked a Ward and injured her quite severely, so yes. However, it’s become clear that obviously there was more to the situation than her simply mocking you and it turning into a fight.”

He leaned forward, “Some very serious allegations if they prove to be true, in fact.”

I snorted heavily, “What do you want me to say to you? Shadow Stalker...Sophia bullied me all day, every day at Winslow for months. She took my best friend and turned her against me, she pushed me down stairs, stole my stuff, and bullied me so bad I fucking triggered. You must know all of that though. After all, how could the Protectorate possibly miss the fact that one of their own was torturing a kid every day for kicks? How can I believe that no one noticed me?”

Armsmaster sat very still, “Do you have any evidence for any of this?”

I looked at him with incredulity, “Evidence? She hospitalized me! You can check the hospital records and the report at the school.”

“Anything else?”

“I kept a diary of every incident, every day. For months. I stopped after I was hospitalized when it became clear nothing would change. Blackwell wouldn’t do anything no matter what I brought her. It’s on my dresser at my home. You can find it there.”

He was silent for a moment, though his lips moved silently, sub-vocalizing into something. We waited for several minutes before his attention was grabbed again by something in his helmet. His features turned down, creases marking what little of his face showed.

“I asked the agents stationed at your house to check. They found it. Ichor, these are very serious reports…”

I almost laughed at that, “You think I don’t know that? They ruined my entire life! I couldn’t even have a nice life here, because Sophia was already here, ready to ruin me. Who would I report it to? Blackwell who ignored me and threw it out? Or now that I know she’s a Ward, you? The word of a random civilian against a Ward you see every day. Yeah, that’d go over well.”

Armsmaster sagged at that, trying to catch my gaze but I avoided it, choosing to stare at the ceiling with the bubbling anger I felt re-surfacing.

“We never received any reports from the school about any of this. Not even the hospitalization, which I’ve now searched for in the records and can confirm.”

I finally turned my gaze down to meet his, “So what? You’re the leader of the Protectorate right? So I have to believe that either you knew and let it happen or that you just didn’t care about what the Wards did that much. Either way, she ruined my life. You-” I gestured widely to the building, “-all of you, helped her. Just like the school did. You took everything from me, made me start to trust you, and then took even that from me.”

Armsmaster broke the gaze first.

He looked down and stood up, shuffling out of the chair. “Please wait here.” He walked out, the door softly swinging behind him as Vista entered in after him.

I returned to contemplating the ceiling. Vista sat down at one of the chairs near me. She started to speak after a moment, “I-I heard what Shadow Stalker said to you. It wasn’t right, how she treated you. She was terrible to everyone, but that was worse than anything she’s said before.”

I made a non-committal grumble.

“The Wards, they aren’t like that. Most of us are heroes, we want to help people. Please don’t give up on it.” She said almost in a whine. I couldn’t find it in me to respond and she sat, keeping me company and playing guard while we waited.

\---

Eventually I was brought up to Director Piggot’s office. I sat down in the chair across from her, dried blood flaked off my skin. She looked tired, strained. The obese woman was always looking at people with that severe, tired-of-your-shit look. She looked over the papers arrayed in front of her, her computer monitor, and me.

“Miss Hebert...you have caused me no small degree of trouble this week. While I would’ve preferred if you hadn't beaten Shadow Stalker within an inch of her life, I can’t entirely fault you for it.”

She adjusted in her seat, leaning back comfortably, or as comfortable as she ever looked. “Frankly speaking, the level of abuse you received goes beyond unacceptable and she will be going to juvie as soon as she wakes up. I don’t tolerate that kind of behavior in any form, especially not from a probationary Ward.”

She took a breath, continuing as I sat, still in a daze. “I also don’t tolerate Wards taking justice into their own hands. You’ll receive two weeks monitor duty and restricted permissions on base for that time. Is that understood?” She seemed ready to call the meeting quits already, glancing back to her computer.

I looked over to her, uncomprehendingly. Sophia was being arrested? I was being punished, but not too severely? I opened my mouth, no sound came out before I managed to find my voice, “Why?”

She looked back to me, “Why did you get monitor duty? Because I can’t have a Ward choke out another Ward and not punish her. The rules exist for a reason, to maintain order. To keep us safe. If parahumans think that they can take justice into their own hands, we lose everything. The PRT exists to stand between humanity and all out cape anarchy.”

“How am I supposed to go back after this? You a- everyone here let it happen.”

Piggot sighed, “The system isn’t perfect Ms. Hebert. I wish it were. People failed you, Shadow Stalker’s handlers were negligent, Armsmaster missed obvious warning signs. But let me ask you this: What else would you do? Be an illegal vigilante and maybe make a dent in the local crime rate? You wouldn’t change anything. The PRT that you now look at with disgust would continue the same as the day you left. Would you rally against us? Even if your call for reform was just, the PRT is massive, where would you get the resources to fight it? And if you somehow won, what would stop the Endbringers from tearing down cities or villains like the Slaughterhouse 9 from doing whatever they want?”

She paused, letting the statement sink in as I spun through ideas. I could leave, I could rebel, I could gather allies, build my strength in secret and come out swinging-

“No. You want to change the PRT, the Protectorate? Then you do it from the inside. You can satisfy that childish urge to rebel and fight, or you can stay with the Wards and work to change it. People listen to Legend about policy, not Crawler. They listen to heroes who work with the system and they respect. Prove you deserve to be listened to. The world needs us. Without us, there is no united defense against the S-Class threats, there is no order or peace for non-parahumans.”

I sat there stunned. I had considered how I would escape, how I could fight back. I had run through the scenarios in my head, but now I paused. How big of a dent could I really make by myself? The Protectorate and PRT spanned the entire United States, it employed thousands, it was headed by the most powerful capes in the world. I couldn’t beat that. Even if I could, she had just told me what would happen. Villains and disasters would ravage the world, they had a monopoly on heroes. Without them, the world would suffer and all my ambitions would just hurt people more. If I fought back I felt like a villain.

They had me beat. They had let Shadow Stalker fuck with my life for months. She had caused both me and my Dad to trigger, ultimately leading to his death and my legal servitude to the state. The PRT and Protectorate had let her do it, they were complicit every step of the way. They had let someone as sadistic as her join the Wards and then completely failed to prevent her from hurting people. If I didn’t fight back, I was no better than them.

Oh, I didn’t believe that the rules kept us safe, or that the order the PRT gave us was everything, but I knew something.

I felt something new.

A bud of hate.

And if it took me becoming the best Ward and Protectorate cape to break them down and force them to change? To fix their corrupt ways?

Then I could do that.

I could enforce order before the masses, I could be the ultimate example. My actions would be utterly pure.

And then, when I was in the perfect position…

I would change _everything._


	5. Chapter 4: Dawn of a Miserable Morning

### Chapter 4: Dawn of a Miserable Morning

April 18th, 2011 - Monday

Two days since I nearly killed Sophia Hess. A miserable reminder that I wouldn’t be going on patrol with the Wards today, even though the weekend was over. It was a strict regimen of training, mandatory counseling, protocol and policy review sessions, tutoring, and monitor duty. There hadn’t been a psychologist set up for the Wards until yesterday. Apparently the old one hadn’t been replaced immediately after she left. The beginnings of the internal avalanche of who-is-getting-blamed had quickly led to one being transferred to Brockton Bay as a typical cover-your-ass move. _Probably someone positioning against Piggot._ The internal power struggle that was shaking the ranks was obvious even to me, a newcomer.

The failure to control Sophia and the ensuing shitstorm that had occurred had gotten up past Piggot to her superiors. They were less than thrilled about the cascade of failures and the Youth Guard banging on their collective door. Looking to make examples and appease various regulatory agencies, the psych had been one of the first changes made. I had heard Sophia’s handler hadn’t even bothered to show up to work, which given Piggot’s mood since the incident was probably her survival instinct kicking in.

Things were in a tumble. Transfers were being scheduled, jobs being shifted, responsibilities re-arranged, power plays being put into action at the opportunity. I hated all of it. Sure, some of it? Probably actually intended to remedy the problem. But most of it was pure posturing or power grabbing. Everyone wanted their own little fiefdom and slice of the pie. They were simply animals in human flesh, preying on an opportunity they saw.

Not helping those who had been hurt. Not working to protect those who would be hurt.

_They should be working to be heroes. It’s just a bunch of vultures and bullies. They never would’ve caught Sophia if I hadn’t gotten powers. They don’t actually care._ My thoughts still ran in a dark rut, focused on how the PRT and the Protectorate had failed me. It felt like a heavy fog was on my mind, skewing all my thoughts back to my anger at them and my pain, both physical and mental. The wound from where Sophia had managed to phase a bolt into me was healing nicely, but still ached sharply when I moved my arm on that side too much. Monitor duty wasn’t all that bad, considering I needed time to heal anyway.

_They probably don’t call Panacea to fix you up when you get hurt choking a Ward. Probably another little way Piggot is punishing me._

As for the mental pain...I was angry. I knew I was angry and knowing it didn’t help. I just couldn’t get over it though. I had trusted them. Armsmaster had been nice, reasonable even and then it turned out it was his fucking fault that Sophia had free reign over me. I had signed my life over to the PRT only to find they were just...this. This disappointment.

_Serves me right for thinking that I could trust anyone. If Blackwell and all the teachers at WInslow wouldn’t lift a finger to help me, why did I expect the rest of the world to be better?_

I couldn’t let them win, but fighting them was also a losing proposition. So the plan, hatched in that moment of enlightenment in Piggot’s office, was made. If they thought they won, they’d let their guard down. The first step was simple, I had to “recover” from my incident in a quick, but believable manner. I didn’t want to waste too much time on the recovery stage, but they wouldn’t believe I simply became a model Ward overnight.

_I wish I knew more about psychology, but I can’t exactly look it up on base without looking suspicious...even if I went to the library, they might be able to monitor my internet searches there._

_They probably can’t watch what books I read though while I’m there._

They did want to restrict me, but I doubted traveling to the library would flag anything. I needed to maintain my education while waiting for the transfer and it was an innocent enough request. Bring back a few books that were educational and I would be golden.

The first person I had to see today was the psychologist. One Dr. Russell, according to the little memo I had been sent. I wouldn’t call myself thrilled at the prospect, but I needed to go and being totally uncooperative would only get Piggot on my case again.

A little uncooperative would be perfectly expected, however.

\---

“Now, do you prefer me to address you in any particular way?”

Dr. Russell asked with a slight tilt of his head, sitting in the plush chair. He was a heavy-set man, sporting a short beard that drifted a bit too far onto his neck and modern, rimless glasses. By his accent, I’d guess somewhere from the mid-west; a bit slow in his speech and his vowels sounding a bit flatter to me. The office was almost an exact replica of the stereotypical therapist's office, as if someone had painstakingly recreated the image to that expectation. It felt fake, as if it was a giant cardboard cut-out, ready to fall away.

I replied immediately, “Call me Ichor please.”

He settled into his chair a bit, his weight pulling him down into it, “Alright Ichor. Is there any reason you prefer to use your cape name rather than your civilian name?”

I snorted at him, “Because Ichor is my name for when I’m doing cape stuff, like being here.” I gestured widely to the building around us.

“You don’t consider this session to be part of your non-cape identity then.”

I shrugged, “Why should I? It’s just another step for me to complete as a Ward.”

He looked through the thin lenses at me with that carefully crafted visage of non-judgement. “So do you think that none of the recent incidents have affected you as a civilian, only as a cape?”

I glared at him, “I **think** that my civilian life isn’t the business of the PRT, since they managed to fuck it up so colossally before.”

Dr. Russell nodded slowly, “You’re angry at the PRT then for what happened with Shadow Stalker. That’s perfectly understandable. From what I read, it sounds like they neglected their job and failed to protect you from an unstable parahuman. Would that be an accurate assessment to you?”

I sunk back in my chair, avoiding looking at him again. “I’d say it’s an understatement. They didn’t just neglect their duties, they totally fucked them up.”

He pursed his lips slightly in the corner of my eye, which I kept carefully angled to make sure he was just inside my vision. “I’ve read the official version of events, but you might not agree with their version. Do you want to tell me your version? Do you think that would be helpful to you?”

I fidgeted in my seat. The clock in the doorway neatly informed me that I still had forty-some minutes left to the session. While I could walk out early, it wouldn’t reflect well I suspected. Though, I didn’t want to reflect that well. Not right now. It wasn’t necessary for my plan and also I just didn’t feel like playing ball with them.

“I don’t think any of this is helpful to me.” I stated stubbornly, wedging my body at hard angles towards him.

\---

April 21st, 2011 - Thursday

_God I hate monitor duty._

Why did they even have me on monitor duty during school hours? No one was patrolling for the Wards and I wasn’t given any jurisdiction over the Protectorate members, so I was just watching a bunch of screens scroll reports that I couldn’t use. I suspected that it was intentional, a way to waste my time and punish me. Or maybe they just couldn’t find anything else to fill this time slot and put this in. Either way it sucked.

The one thing I did get out of it was that I was able to watch crime reports stream in for hours on end. It had only been half a week, but I was getting a pretty solid idea of crime trends in the city. ABB liked to hit at night, while E88 often wasn’t afraid to conduct daylight operations. The borders between territories were the places with the most incidents. The Merchants were pretty restricted in where they acted. There were a few groups like the Undersiders and Coil who lurked on the fringes, only popping up on the radar once so far.

I also put together the fact that the Wards’ patrol routes were designed not to overlap with the most dangerous parts of the city. It made sense, in that it was bad PR to get teenagers killed fighting Kaiser, but it was also horribly ineffective I thought. They could still maintain a presence closer to hot spots to deter the spread of crime, but the patrols mostly just stuck to well-populated and wealthy areas.

The buzzer went off for the room. I checked the feed of the elevator, which showed Vista and Gallant waiting to come in. I didn’t bother to mask up, even if I had felt awkward around the Wards since the incident. They had tried to console me, but I just couldn’t help but notice the way they cringed around me sometimes. Uncomfortable reminders of my outburst. I doubted they’d ever fully forget it.

A second buzz indicated the waiting period was over and the doors slid open. Vista waved from the elevator and Gallant gave a little smile. Technically Missy and Dean, I guess, when out of costume. I still had trouble thinking of them out of their cape names, even when Gallant insisted I call him Dean when he was unmasked.

Vista slid over, she had that tendency to cover space at really odd paces using her power. She seemed to get impatient if she had to walk the normal length of a room.

“Hey Taylor, another boring day on monitor duty?”

Gallant chimed in, “I’d go crazy if I had to pull monitor duty every day. I dunno how you do it.”

I shrugged back, “I get a good feel for the city at least.”

Gallant bobbed his head a bit, “I could see that. You’ll probably know more about the city by the end of next week than any of us.” He chuckled at the end.

Vista pouted slightly at that, shooting a look at Gallant, “Not me.”

He gave that small smile he always had on to her, “True, we shouldn’t forget how long you’ve been a Ward.”

She practically beam back at him, “Mhm. Tell that to Clock. Maybe he’ll stop getting lost and listen to me.”

Gallant snorted in good humor, “Pah. Clock, listen to someone? You want me to stop the three Blasphemies too?”

Vista giggled a little at that before looking over to me, almost forgetting I was there. That good humor seemed to slid away when she looked at me and I shrunk back in the seat a little. They’ll never trust me. I could blame Sophia...but it’s my own fault for exploding in front of them. I cringed internally. _This is why I've been avoiding them. To avoid this awkwardness._

Vista spoke carefully, trying the words out like she was testing a rickety bridge before committing, “Sooooo Taylor...I know you’ve been stuck on base mostly and like...you didn’t seem to bring much of a wardrobe, so I was wondering if, like, you wanted to go shopping with us?”

_What._ My thoughts ground to a halt as I tried to process the question. _She wanted to go shopping with me? Why would she want to go shopping with me. Is it…? No. It’s not a ploy by the trio, they aren’t here anymore. It’s gotta be something else._

Vista looked at me uncomfortably, some mix of awkward and expectant. “It’s okay if you don’t. We just figured that you’d like the chance to get out for a bit?”

Gallant added in, “We haven’t had much of a chance to get to know you and it’s a real shame. We don’t want to just be teammates, we’d like to be friends too.”

Vista nodded along, justifying herself, “And you wear a lot of black so I thought maybe Piggot didn’t give you a chance to bring a lot of clothes over or something.”

I stared at them blankly for a moment. They wanted to go shopping to get to know me? And because they noticed I only ever wore dark colors? They didn’t seem mad at me even. I had been avoiding the Wards as best as I could before.

“I don’t have any money.” I blurted out reactively, a ready made excuse forming from the ether of my brain.

Gallant waved my concern off, “Not an issue. I’ll cover it. My treat.”

I shook my head quickly, “I can’t just have you pay for my stuff. And I like my clothes.”

Gallant looked at me with those doe eyes. _Damn his eyes._ “It’s okay. Really. Consider it an apology. We didn’t notice what Shadow Stalker was doing either and we all feel pretty bad about it. You can always just get more clothes you like.”

I frowned slightly, looking at him as I tried to size him up. He probably was reading my emotions and knew I was sizing him up. Crap, that’s no good. “That’s...really nice, but I don’t know.” I offered, lamely.

Vista looked at me pleadingly, “C’mon, you have to be tired of sitting inside all day!”

I was tired of monitor duty, even if it was educational in a way. If Gallant was telling the truth that they felt bad about what happened...well maybe it was worth giving them a chance. A Model Ward couldn’t have her teammates hating her anyway, so I had to figure something out eventually. And if he wanted to pay for a few new black hoodies, I guess that was okay too.

I swallowed, “Sure. Uhm...thanks.”

I got up from my chair to a hopeful looking Vista and that infuriating little smile from Gallant, like he knew everything would be okay somehow. My monitor duty ended in five minutes, so I started to grab my things as they lounged around the room. Once I collected myself, we headed out.

Huh, maybe this won’t be god awful. _Who am I kidding? Yes it will be._

\---

April 22nd, 2011 - Friday

Fugly Bob’s was loud and bustling. I would’ve griped internally about why we chose to come during the dinner rush, but I knew why. Everyone was in school until the afternoon and this was the only time most of the team was off at the same time. Like most people, they had Friday evening off and that’s why everyone showed up at the same time.

We had a nice corner booth. It was quietly reserved compared to the rest of the place but talk was still slightly drowned out by the din of other patrons’ chatter, wait staff orders called out, and ambient music. I had tried to maneuver into the back corner, but Gallant and Vista had double-teamed me and gotten me to sit on the other side with strategic body-blocking during seating. I think Vista even may have used her power to stretch the floor between my seat and the other one. _Cheater._ Still I sat in a corner, but was forced to be slightly less reclusive by being on the other side.

Clockblocker sat to my right, Kid Win on his right. Across from me was Vista in the corner, Gallant, and Aegis. We had been given our menus and were idly contemplating them. I figured I’d just go for a burger with some fries. The cafeteria food in the PRT headquarters actually wasn’t bad so I wasn’t craving outside food, but it was nice to have a selection. Maybe I’d grab a milkshake.

Gallant and Clockblocker were light-heartedly arguing.

“I tell you man, she’s out to get me! That was completely unfair.” Clockblocker complained.

“I don’t think Ms. Green is out to fail just you. Half of the class looked ready to puke after that. I sure didn’t feel good after that test.”

“See, this is what I mean! If you had trouble, then it had to be unfair.” He threw his hands up.

Aegis gave Clock a skeptical look. “You sure your not studying had _nothing_ to do with it?”

Clock gave a look of pure innocence back. “Me? Not study? Carlos, who’s been spreading lies about me?”

Aegis just rolled his eyes in response. Kid Win looked over. “I haven’t had her, but everyone says she’s fun.”

Clock shrugged. “Yeah I guess. She’s chiller than most teachers.”

Gallant nodded. “I think she’s pretty fun. She doesn’t give us busy work and we actually get to read some fun stuff. She just expects you to do that work.”

Kid Win seemed appeased, turning the idea over in his head. “That doesn’t sound too bad. Mr. Friedman just gives us tons of worksheets. It’s boring as hell.”

Aegis and Clock both gave sympathetic nods, Aegis speaking first, “Oh yeah, he’s pretty bad. But as long as you finish you get an A so that’s okay…?”

They discussed school more while I idly glossed over the menu. I wasn’t very interested, I didn’t know any of the teachers they were talking about and school wasn’t a topic I liked to talk about anyway. I looked at the burgers, all the variations you could order. Who would even want pineapple on a burger?

I was pulled out of my thoughts as I heard my name from the corner of my awareness, a tingle on the back of my neck.

Clockblocker was asking me, repeating his question, “Taylor. What was Winslow like?”

Gallant shot him a quick piercing look, but I shrugged and answered, “Hell. It’s dirty, half the kids are in gangs, and the teachers couldn’t care less.”

Clockblocker let out a low whistle. “Damn. That really sucks. You excited at least to move to Arcadia?”

I shrugged a second time, feeling awkward repeating the gesture so soon. “I dunno? I don’t know much about it. I never really looked forward to school.”

Gallant winced slightly at that, thought Clockblocker just nodded along. “Oh yeah, I get that. Some of the teachers are alright, but most of the time it just feels like a waste.”

Kid Win added, “They won’t even let me take a shop class. It sucks. I mean, it doesn’t all suck, but it sucks that I can’t take a shop class. Or sculpture class. Or touch the equipment in chemistry.”

That prompted a round of chuckles around the chuckle and a playful ribbing from Aegis. “That’s cause last time you touched the lab stuff, you did a grand in damages.”

Kid Win looked exasperated, letting out a groan. “I was so close to making it work too when she pulled the fire extinguisher on me! It had to melt, otherwise the bond wouldn’t be strong enough.” He muttered the last bit and there was another round of laughing.

The waitress came around at just the right time between topics and picked our orders up. Burgers all around, except Kid Win who wanted a salad. I didn’t even realize they made salads here. I got a burger with cheese and some toppings and even treated myself to that milkshake. Aegis got enough food for two people and just smiled with a small bit of chagrin when he saw me stare.

Conversation kept on school until the food arrived. It was surprisingly good, which partly explained why it was so busy. The milkshake was huge and the burger was no slouch either, which made me feel pretty good about how much I spent for how much I got. As we dug in, conversation slowly rolled back into gear.

“Taylor, you’re joining us next week, right?” Kid Win asked between bites.

I swallowed a piece of burger hastily to answer. It went down the wrong way and I started to cough, feeling it lodge in the wrong spot. Clockblocker pushed my water to my hand and I took a big gulp, feeling everything got back to normal. I shrunk a bit at the attention I had drawn.

“Uh, yeah. Next Monday at the start of May.”

Aegis looked over at the that. “Huh, you won’t have much time before the end of the semester. I’m surprised they didn’t wait until next year.”

Gallant countered smoothly, “The Youth Guard would be all over them if she didn’t complete the year.”

Aegis nodded at that. “That’s true.”

I decided to speak for myself, “And I wasn’t going back to Winslow.”

Clockblocker looked up from his love affair with his food, trying to wipe some crumbs from his chin. “Really that bad that you’d rather not finish the year?”

I looked at him. “It’s where Sophia went.”

He held up a hand placatingly at that. “Point. Sorry I asked. I just really enjoy the taste of my foot in my mouth.”

Aegis sighed. “It's probably the healthiest thing you put in there, having fried food everyday is gonna kill you." He switched back to me, "For what it’s worth, we’re all really sorry about what happened.”

I turned away at the looks of pity. “It’s okay. You guys didn’t know. She was always good at getting people to think she was innocent.”

Aegis gave half a shrug as he took another bite. “Still. You deserve to know that none of us blame you for anything that happened. She deserved every bit of it.”

I glanced the other way, trying to look at some of the pictures on the other wall. “It wasn’t your job.”

Clockblocker held a hand up. “That doesn’t matter. We’re supposed to be heroes, everything is our job. Or at least Piggot manages to blame us for everything even if it’s not.” He gave a silly smile at the end.

I just rolled my eyes, but I felt a small smile form on my lips as I took bite of a few fries to delay any need to respond.

\---

April 27th, 2011 - Wednesday

I spun a pencil in my fingers idly as I sat in the chair. I still refused to sit in Dr. Russell’s stupid couch, but the chair worked fine. He sat at an angle from me, so we weren’t quite opposite. It was probably designed to feel like we were conversing I guessed.

“It went well then?” He asked.

“Yeah. I didn’t really have high expectations, but Missy was really nice about the whole thing.”

“That’s good. It sounds like you’ve managed to become pretty close to her and Dennis.”

I shrugged a bit, scratching the back of my head. “I guess? Missy goes out of her way to visit me and I can sorta appreciate Dennis’ sense of humor.”

He nodded a bit. “Do you think that’s helped? Do you feel in a better place these last few days compared to last week?”

I took a moment to think about it. I already knew what my answer would be in a sense. I wanted them to think I was slowly, but steadily recovering to conform with their expected trajectory of a Ward. I assumed that was their expected trajectory, given that I hadn’t actually learned much about psychology from the books I had read.

Turns out picking random psychology books doesn’t work so well. They used a lot of jargon that made breaching the topic difficult. Once I had started to understand the jargon, I realized it was author specific and different authors used the same terms in totally different ways. I had almost thrown the book out a window at that point. How was I supposed to learn anything if I had to spend twenty pages defining terms before getting into each topic?

It was an infuriating exercise, but I had learned that most therapy sessions worked off small gradual changes and that I could follow that sort of progression if I wanted to fake something. Like growing less angry at the PRT and more balanced.

It helped that I was actually starting to like the other Wards. I thought about the question in earnest. Did I feel better? Yes. It was an easy answer. The first few days had been tense where I had avoided them and there had been a tension in the air. Once it was cleared up that they felt bad and I didn’t blame them, things quickly improved. We had gone shopping, gone to eat, seen a movie, they had tried to teach me video games even. It was a lot to take in. I hadn’t had friends since Emma and I forgot a week could be so jam-packed with socialization. It wasn’t bad though.

I had also forgotten how much people talked, it was odd to get used to again. I was still tentative to talk about myself too much, but I didn’t feel quite as awkward talking to them anymore. That was a lie, I still felt totally awkward, but it was also a nice awkward. They didn’t make fun of me and they actually seemed to listen to me. I still had a knot in my stomach like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it hadn’t yet. I doubted Emma was secretly Browbeat, so I was probably pretty safe from another nasty surprise.

I answered slowly, raising my head out of my introspection, “Yeah. I think so.”

He smiled gently, it was annoying how much it felt like he handled me with kid gloves, afraid he’d break me and send me into tears. “Do you have any plans for this weekend?”

“Uh, I think Dean wanted to do something with Dennis and Chris and invited me?” I hadn’t totally paid attention to the proposition, mostly just going along with things.

“Are you looking forward to it?”

“Yeah I guess. It’s been nice so far.”

\---

The session ended and I was off to monitor duty. _Geez I hate therapy._ I didn’t want to talk for an hour. I especially didn’t want to talk about myself for an hour. I didn’t want to talk about myself for ten minutes. I had thrice weekly therapy mandated after the incident and it grated on me. It felt like a waste of time. Even monitor duty was better.

With monitor duty at least I got to analyze trends in crimes and parahuman activity. Information I could feasibly use to help our team out or respond to emergencies. All therapy gave me was a chance to sit there and feel frustrated and violated for an hour. Dr. Russell was professional, but he was just annoying. I could feel how he treated me like glass and how his interest was calculated. There was empathy there, but it was trained.

It reminded me too much of Emma. Analyzing what makes a person happy so she could take them apart the better. Maybe therapy was nice for people who wanted it, but I didn’t want it. I wanted to do something useful and cabin fever of a sorts was setting in. How could they just have me sit here all day doing these stupid activities when I could be stopping crime? It was a practically a crime in and of itself.

But patience would be rewarded.

I had to remind myself constantly, but the plan would come along and I wouldn’t ruin my chances with immature impatience. If I put up with bullying for months, I could handle this.

Missy sat in one of the chairs next to the monitor station as I entered. She gave a wave as I made my way over.

“Hey Taylor. Having a good day?” She asked with an upbeat tone.

“Same as always.” I said with a shrug.

“Mind if I keep you company?” She asked as I sat down in the monitor duty chair, eyes drifting to the feeds of data.

“No, it’s fine. How was your day?” I asked routinely, setting the headset for monitor duty on my head.

“Well, math was really boring cause we had to do worksheets. Mr. Grant is sick this week and the sub is suuuuuuper boring. He won’t even put videos on. It’s like he doesn’t know that subs are supposed to put videos on!” She protested.

I checked the feed, Kid Win and Gallant were on patrol. I kept an eye on their route. “That sucks. Not fun or educational.”

“Exactly! It’s not like we’re even doing anything useful. It’s just stacks of practice sheets. If I have to solve for x one more time I’m making the axles of his car different sizes when he leaves.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What would that do anyway?”

She pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not sure actually. But it’d probably suck real bad I bet!” She deduced, giving a little nod of self-satisfaction.

I smirked a little, directing Kid Win and Gallant towards a robbery in progress. “I thought Dennis was the one who did pranks.”

Vista folded her arms. “Why does he get to have all the fun?”

“Because he can cheat with his powers. Freezing stuff in time is such a bullshit power.”

Vista laughed a little. “I wish we could upload that last one to YouTube. Who’d’ve thought that the bucket would unfreeze right when he was running back after setting that all up?” She started laughing harder.

I laughed too. It had been pretty funny to see it all come crashing down onto him. He had assumed it would freeze for somewhere closer to a few minutes than 30 seconds. That random duration had really screwed him there.

“Hey Taylor...do you like magical girl shows at all?” Vista asked carefully.

I shrugged. “I don’t know? I haven’t seen any.”

Vista tilted her head. “Do you want to see some clips?”

I gave a non-committal grunt of acceptance and her eyes lit up with glee.

Uh-oh.

\---

May 2nd, 2011 - Monday

My first day at Arcadia was here. And my first day off of suspension. I woke up and for once my schedule wasn’t full of crap I’d rather avoid. Well, it probably was, but it was new crap that I technically didn’t know for sure I’d want to avoid yet.

I got dressed, ate breakfast, and headed off to school in a non-descript car driven by a PRT agent. I would’ve walked but they insisted and it was probably better I didn’t get lost on the first day of school.

I had met with the principal the day before, along with a group of girls who look suspiciously similar to me. I guess part of the two week period was finding transfer and applicants who would cover my looks decently. They were all noticeably larger chested than I was. It was a little annoying, but it was clever. My costume made me look much more well endowed than I was, so having most of the girls be large-chested drew the attention far away from me. Both normal attention and paranoia.

Oh well. At least I wouldn’t have back problems if I lived past thirty.

I got out of the car, the agent waving me goodbye as she started to pull off. The walk into school was different. Instead of cracking concrete, there was a clean walkway surrounded by grass. The outside of the school wasn’t dull grays and browns, but a mix of foresty and ochre colors, clearly cleaned and given a fresh coat of paint every few years. It was the little details that really added together and made Arcadia feel and look like the top school in Brockton Bay.

I wandered inside with the steady stream of students. The halls were an organized mess. There were flyers posted on the walls haphazardly and bits of school paraphernalia, but it felt under control. The mess didn’t threaten to consume the halls and instead made it feel cozy and inhabited. There wasn’t the quiet tension of gang members staring each other down across imagined mini-territories of locker space. This was an institution of learning, not just a container to hold teenagers for the bulk of the day.

I slinked into my homeroom, which held my first class of the day. I had a Ms. Flaherty, who looked about as pale and northern European as her name suggested. A tall, severe looking woman who smiled a lot more than I expected on my first impression.

“Now I know it’s a bit unusual to get some new classmates this late in the semester, but I want you all to give these two a warm welcome. Ms. Hebert and Ms. Smith, would you please stand?”

I stood up and another long haired brunette close to my height stood at the other end of the classroom.

“Everyone welcome Taylor Hebert…” I gave a small wave at the attention.

“And Emily Smith.” Another round of greeting chorused out for my partner in public attention.

“Excellent. If you two have any questions, you can ask me or any of your classmates who I’m sure will be happy to help you.” The statement was said with the implied threat that if she heard otherwise, someone was going to have a bad day. Maybe she was both cheery and severe I decided.

“Now that that’s been taken care of, let’s move onto the announcements for today. The track team will not be having practice today due to their upcoming meet tomorrow, though I imagine you already were told that. Prom will be scheduled for the last weekend of May, tickets will be going on sale this week…”

The series of announcements rolled off, though I didn’t have the context to really know who they applied to. I simply went along with the flow of things for now, doing my best to hide in the back of the room. I had taken a position near the back door, since Dennis had warned me that it made slipping out easier.

The first few classes went pretty well. The PRT had gotten me all new school supplies and a shiny, non-abused backpack that hadn’t suffered the slings and arrows of my misfortunes. I didn’t feel spitballs fly my way and the guy who bumped me was genuinely apologetic about it. There were looks thrown my way, but instead of the leers of teenage girls it was their curiosity driving it.

I struggled a bit in the classes. While the tutor during the last two weeks had worked hard to make sure I was up to date, the months of bullying and increased apathy at Winslow had tanked my grades pretty hard. The last month especially, I didn’t really retain any of the lessons from that month. So I was a bit behind in Geometry, I did actually know the book for English Literature thankfully, and History seemed to be covering a different time period and country than Winslow had been so I was totally lost.

I was desperately scribbling down notes at the end of History on what I’d need for the homework tonight when the bell rang. The teacher didn’t seem to notice, going on for a few tension-leaden minutes while the students became increasingly frantic. When the ruffling of bags and closing of notebooks finally caught his attention we were allowed to escape to lunch. I tentatively followed the crowd to the cafeteria, it wasn’t like I had any lunch packed anyway.

I grabbed a tray and shuffled through the line of students, all eager to grab more than they’d eat most likely. I was pretty psyched to get the chicken breasts though, since they were running out fast and I didn’t really like the look of the brown slop that occupied the other container. It was a shade of middling brown that indicated nothing could be reliably identified in the food and was likely unknown even to the Protectorate’s best Thinkers.

I looked out at the cafeteria, the long tables that had groups of friends, various circles of cliches, and people looking around desperately for their friends. I waited anxiously as I tried to figure out where to sit. Since we had been held late there weren’t any large empty swathes where a loner could sit down first and comfortably establish themselves.

“Hey Taylor, you wanna sit us?”

I turned to the voice, Dean was wearing a winning smile and I slowly gave a nod, sputtering out, “T-Thanks.”

“No problem. It’s your first day so you don’t know anyone yet.” He lead us over to a table where a cheerleader-esque blonde sat, accompanied by someone who seemed to reflect what I felt, a small mousy looking brunette. There was also a jock-looking guy and a preppy looking Asian girl.

“Hey guys. This is Taylor. She’s a friend who just transferred in today.”

The blonde gave a smile, looking to me as I took a seat on the outskirt of the group, “Hi! I’m Vicky.” She nudged the mousy girl next to her, “This is my sister Amy.”

The guy introduced himself, “Trevor, nice to meetcha.”

The Asian girl spoke, “Becky. So you just transferred?”

I remembered my cover story. Well it wasn’t really a cover story. Part of Winslow had caught fire right after I had needed the transfer and they used it as a cover for moving me. Reduced capacity and whatnot, though I suspected that the other poor students were just getting shoved into other classrooms.

I answered, “Yeah, a few rooms at Winslow need repairs and I had already applied to transfer, so…” I trailed off with a shrug.

Vicky leaned forward. “That’s lucky! I hear the waiting list is huge. So, how do you know Dean?”

I paused, a quick panic setting in. I didn’t have a story for that yet and I couldn’t just say I was a Ward with him. What would a student from Winslow have in common with a rich boy from Arcadia?

Dean helpfully chimed in, “We met at one of the Dockworker’s Union fundraisers. Her dad worked for them and you know me.”

Trevor rolled his eyes. “Man, you’re always doing those charity events. How do you ever have time off?”

Vicky shot Trevor a look. “I think it’s nice! At least Dean is trying to help fix the city up, which is better than most of the rich assholes in Brockton.”

The conversation continued as Amy and I both worked to stay out of it as much as possible. Vicky seemed really nice and Dean was totally Gallant even when out of costume. Lunch ended up not being so bad. If every day went this smoothly, I might even stop dreading school.

Eh, maybe. Let's not go crazy with the optimism Taylor.

\---

May 3rd, 2011 - Tuesday

I woke up bleary eyed as the alarm sounded. Another morning, another day of school. I slowly remembered I had a patrol scheduled for later tonight as well and tiredly pushed it out of my mind. As I made my way over to the shower, I heard a small high-pitched whine that seemed to emanate from everywhere.

_Is Triumph doing weird shit with his voice again?_

I slogged over to the bathroom, grabbing my toothbrush. Convenient that we never had to buy our own toothpaste if we lived on-site. The world went black with the roar and crash of fire, sounding oddly detached from reality.

Something cold and hard.

Pain, throbbing in the back of my head and ribs and spine.

My power not just thrumming, but roaring in my ears. I felt it active all around me.

_ I lost a lot of blood._ I idly noticed as I felt it respond to my power pushing on it.

There was rubble and detritus all around me. I could feel the cold flow of water slide around me, mixing with my blood. The pipes must’ve burst. I gathered my blood, pushing it in a ring out around me, clearing a little zone around me. I could feel my power hum from my injuries, there were several large gashes down my back and when I tried to move my left arm it only weakly responded.

I propped myself up with my right hand, fighting the good fight against gravity as I rolled onto my side. My glasses were filthy, but safe thankfully. The bathroom was completely wrecked, the ceiling missing large chunks, one of which seemed to have hit me on it’s way down. Water sprayed from the wall where a pipe had been split.

The slow realization dawned upon me, changing to a fast approaching panic.

_The PRT has been attacked. The PRT has been attacked severely enough that it nearly took me out all the way down here._ My mind raced. Who would do something so suicidal as to declare war on the PRT? If I had been injured, the chances of casualties on the other floors were grimly high.

I need my costume. I needed to get out of the bathroom and grab my sailor suit. The brute protection it gave me would be important, I could protect myself while searching for survivors. I looked over to the bathroom door and saw some broken concrete blocked it. I was still bleeding quite a bit as I eyed the door. Gathering my blood up behind me in two orbs, I streamed it at the door in a blast. The broken hinges groaned under the pressure and the top started to move as the bottom pushed against the rubble. I threw more and more blood at it, my back on fire as I felt the blood move past the torn tissue.

The door wedged open at the top enough for me to get out. I slowly pushed my body through the gap, lances of pain down my left arm as I gingerly maneuvered it through the space. I kept my pool of blood above me as a barrier, small eddies and currents pushing up to slow down or stop any more falling debris. At least I would know if something came crashing through it.

The Wards HQ was in ruins. An alarm droned in the backroom and what lights that were left had shifted to a red coloration, saturating the room in an awkward reminder of how it looked when I had covered it in blood. Chairs lay broken and scattered, the monitor bank was destroyed, a single monitor still running though the screen was cracked. Small sparks flashed from exposed wiring all around the walls.

I slowly made my way to my room, the door had been open so I was able to slip in easily. Digging my sailor suit out from it’s special space in my closet and tinker-tech containment sheath. I had to work slowly, my right hand doing most of the work. Lifting my left arm to slide it through the sailor suit was painfully slow. It also really hurt. The outfit sat haphazardly on me, ruffled and askew as I pulled the tab from the glove.

Needles sank into my skin, drinking greedily as I felt it transform. Tears rolled down my face as I winced, pain pushing through my arm and back at the forced movement. The animal intelligence awoke as it got blood for the first time in a week. I felt it push on my mind and I pushed back.

I tested my left arm, slowly working my fingers. It still hurt, but the outfit seemed to provide some level of support. My arm didn’t feel as bad. I could move it, though it ached and I was certain I still needed a medic. But I could move, and if whoever did this was still here, I could fight.

I scrambled, faster now, out of the room and over to the monitor bank. I grabbed the headset, throwing it on as I read the screen feed.

My eyes went wide as I ran through the information. Reports were pouring in from across the entire city of explosions rocking through the area. There were dozens upon dozens, probably a hundred already reported. And from the trends I was seeing, I doubted they were done being called in.

I tapped the mic, trying to find a working channel. “Hello. This is Ichor of the Wards. Is anyone there?”

Static pushed through the headset. I switched channels, trying again, “This is Ichor of Wards. Is anyone there?”

A distorted voice buzzed back, “Ichor! This is Armsmaster. Status and location?”

I let out a huge sigh of relief. I may not be Armsmaster’s biggest fan anymore, but the radio silence had worried me more than my trepidation at dealing with him. “Got hit by an explosion at the Wards base. I’m up and outfitted.”

The voice came through again, the sounds of chaos in the background of it, “Roger. Work your way up and perform search and rescue if safe. Remain at PRT HQ if possible.”

I grimaced at the terse instructions, but found myself nodding, “Will do. I have a working monitor, it looks like the entire city’s been hit. Especially infrastructure, power grid is down, water treatment center was hit, and cell towers are out all over.”

There was a crash on the other end before a response, “Acknowledged, that matches what we’re seeing. If you get in contact with the other Wards, stick together.”

My eyes scanned over the data and something stuck out. I checked over a second time before confirming it, speaking tentatively into the mic, “Armsmaster...I think this was ABB. Their territory was barely hit compared to the rest of the city.”

Another pause. “Thanks Ichor. Stay safe, Armsmaster out.”

I slid the headset off, it fell with a thud onto the broken and filthy desk. The city was in complete chaos from the preliminary reports. Power substations had been tactically taken out, running water was heavily impaired, key choke points in the roads were filled with exotic effects, large areas of E88 territory had lost cell coverage.

Sliding out from the chair, I moved for one of the many emergency exits. The staircase was in pretty good shape, there was some rubble but it had been clearly built to handle extreme situations and held up well. I made my way up the stairs, pushing the door to the next floor open with a heave. Something had been blocking it from the other side, but the sailor suit gave me enough strength to dislodge it.

I looked around the floor, a low dim red light illuminated the smoke-filled space. There was chaos everywhere, parts of ceiling and wall had collapsed and it was in worse shape than the Wards HQ had been. I suspected that would be a trend as I went up. People were running back and forth in a hurry, a group was working to get a supporting beam off another man.

I called out, “The staircase is open, evacuate if you can!” I drew a few stares, but some of the people started to move towards the exit. I strode over to the group trying to free the man, thankful that the outfit gave me a bit of help with reflexes and balance. Heels in the middle of rubble would’ve killed me right then and there otherwise.

I moved among them, giving a nod of reassurance to ashen faced man who looked at me grimly. He nodded back and I added my strength to theirs, the beam shifted and moved as I took the brunt of it. My left arm burned and I shifted most of the weight onto my right, not too difficult but I could feel just how heavy the beam was. The group pulled the man out, several of the men helped me support the pillar, clearly seeing how I favored one arm.

“Oh my god, thank you Ichor. We couldn’t budge it.”  
“Thanks!”  
“You’re a lifesaver Ichor!”

A smattering of thanks rang out from relieved co-workers as they carried the man over towards the exit, laying him down. I let the pillar down slowly, grimacing through the pain back at them, “You guys need to get out of here, I don’t know if the building is safe and help might not be coming for awhile.”

The PRT employees all nodded, determination and fear in their eyes. They headed for the exit as a man came running back through it towards me. He called out, “Ichor! The top of the stairwell is collapsed. Can you get us out?”

I frowned. Even the staircase clearly built for emergencies was that damaged at higher floors? That wasn’t good at all. I wasn’t sure how long my strength would last either, my injuries certainly weren’t healed. I was quickly learning my brute rating protected me from damage, it didn’t appear to reverse it. I followed the man as he looked relieved when I came along. We went up the stairs two or three at a time, dodging chunks of debris. A group of survivors was at the top of a flight, there was simply a wall of collapsed building blocking any further egress.

They were doing their best without me, I noticed. They had a chain set up to shift the smaller pieces out and down, agents were using makeshift levers to try and shift larger pieces with care. They paused and made way for me as they spotted me. I eyed up the blockage, we had no idea how far up this went. They had removed most of the smaller debris already without me, what was left was large pieces of wall that had collapsed in it looked like.

I placed my hands on the largest piece, “Stand back. I don’t know if this’ll work.”

The crowd shifted back, watching, as I poured blood into the outfit, feeding it far more than it needed. I could feel it almost bloat with my power and my strength surge as it did. As long as I didn’t need the blood for anything else, I could boost the outfit a bit this way. I shook my shoulders out and heaved.

Pain shot down my arm and back as I did, the rubble resisting my efforts. I heaved harder, grunting in exertion as my hands dug into the concrete, cracks splintering out from my palms across the surface. I could feel it straining against something above us.

I dug my feet in, bending my knees and using my entire body. I could feel all my muscles working, the entire suit working to give me strength far beyond that of a normal person. There was a groan from above as things started to shift. I could feel sweat starting to pour down my brow as I pushed. I only focused on two things, the rubble and the pain.

The pieces budged, flexing upward uncomfortably as things strained and broke. I heaved forward with my whole body, pouring strength into it and the pieces exploded upwards. There was a crash as pieces broke and were thrown up and out. Light poured in through the gap as smaller pieces rolled back down the stairs. People at the bottom rushed up to help, stabilizing the opening I had made. I felt hands gently pat me on the back as they passed by and I caught my breath.

I had never exerted that much strength before with the suit on. It had felt like there was a deeper reserve of power the suit wasn't giving me. I had fought to get what I had used, but there was something it wasn’t giving me. Was that lurking intelligence in the suit not fond of me? Was it refusing to hand over its full power? It was hard to tell. I wiped the sweat from my face and took measured steps up through the opening.

_Holy shit._

Sunlight flooded the area, an entire side of the PRT building was open to the outdoors. There were disturbingly clean edges around the carved out side, like everything within it had been incinerated cleanly. Everything else was simply fall out from the initial blast I suspected. The explosion must’ve taken out at least a quarter of the building. The rest was tilting precariously and damaged, bits hanging off the side, and shattered glass everywhere. The ground level looked nothing like before. Gone were the receptionists’ desks and waiting lobby. The gift shop smoldered in the background, good hastily abandoned. Dirty and destroyed bits of cape paraphernalia blew across the room with the early morning breeze.

I felt people carefully push past me from below, but it was a numb, detached feeling. I heard the beginnings of sobs and desperate murmurs as they too took in the chaos. I felt a dampness on my cheeks as I stared at the scene. I could almost see myself in third person, standing there in my red and black outfit, covered in dust and blood and grime. No one had time to care about how my outfit looked now, none of them even spared a glance. They were all too caught up in their own grief. Some huddled to the side, processing it by being overwhelmed. Some rushed into the mess, processing it by going into emergency mode, ready to work until they were too exhausted to feel.

_ How did they get a bomb that big so close to the building?_

_ How many did they kill with that?_

_ People on the East side wouldn’t have had a chance…_

I almost threw up as I looked at the carnage. The hole reached up to the very top floor. While the fire of the explosion had obviously scoured the immediate blast clean, the sanguine stains on the walls past told a grim story. Bloodied debris sat everywhere, entire cubicles and desks crushed, the fate of those who had been present queasily unclear. What was clear was that the death toll was going to be much, much higher than I had initially thought.

PRT agents were already well on their way in conducting rescue operations. At the other end of the floor was an area where people were barking orders. Those higher ups who had survived the blast and had the forethought to rally the dazed. Tourists sat huddled to the side, crying quietly in a group where everyone managed to look alone. Wounded employees were being brought over as well, laid out in careful rows as others worked to clear safe spaces to place more.

Trucks were rolled right up to the building, emergency supplies being carried out of the backs to tend to the wounded. Tools were being gathered to help hasten clean-up as well. People who weren’t badly injured rushed back and forth, carrying those who were or trying to regain access to collapsed areas. Rubble was being carried in bucket-brigades down from collapsed doorways, tossed carelessly toward the blast side, where they knew there was no one to hurt.

I looked out in shock at the broken and scarred gash on the East side of the building at the rising sun.

Close by and in the distance, smoke drifted up into the sky and sirens rang out in futile warning.

I felt my mind snap back into place as all the emotions I felt ran in the background. Sorrow, grief, pain, shock, dismay, horror, anger, indignation. I was the only cape on the ground here. I had no idea if the Wards were coming, or even okay. The Protectorate was almost certainly busy.

If I wasn’t going to uphold peace and order now, when else would I falter?

It was up to me to do the heavy lifting and protect the people here.

My heels clicked on the hard floor as I headed towards another group trying to open up a collapsed room. I pushed everything else to the back of my mind and let the feeling of my own power thrumming and my blood pumping fill my mind.

_Time to be a hero._


	6. Interlude 2: Bonesaw

### Interlude 2: Bonesaw

She walked up the steps to the house, one creaking beneath her feet as she made her way to the door. The house was one of many of the street in mild disrepair, not particularly noteworthy in any way. She knocked on the door, once, twice, and heard the rustle of movement from inside.

A middle-aged, exhausted looking man opened the door and looked down at her, “Hello, can I help you?”

Bonesaw smiled back at him. “Hi! This is the Hebert residence, right?”

He nodded slowly with a bemused, “Yes, yes it is.”

She took on a more somber face. “I’m a friend of Taylor’s, is it okay if I come in? I need to talk to you about her.”

His own face took on a more serious, worried look and he opened the door fully, gesturing her in. “Of course. Can I get you anything? Tea, milk, water?”

She walked into the house, as uncared for inside as it was outside. Sitting down on the couch she shook her head, “No thanks Mr. Hebert.”

Danny followed, sitting across from her, fingers interlaced in front of his worry-stricken face. “So what did you need to talk to me about?”

Bonesaw looked around the room. It was dull, unimaginative. It lacked a certain artistic flair.

“You’re a wet Tinker, right?”

Danny sat stock still as he collected himself. “I don’t know what you mean?”

“Oh sure you do, you’ve been collecting so many supplies after all. Buying from that blood bank was your mistake by the way, a lot of people noticed that one. I’m lucky I found you first~”

She was, it had taken a lot of work to get here first. Well, strictly speaking she hadn’t, but a few missing villains wouldn’t be noticed by anyone.

Danny stood up, squaring his shoulders and taking on a totally unjustified mean look at her, “I need to ask you to leave.”

She tilted her head at him. “And not tell you about Taylor?”

He paused, white as ghost before becoming red with anger. He was very good at rapid color change, she noted. “If you’ve touched her…”

She shook her head. “Nuh-uh, threats aren’t very nice Mr. Hebert. All I want is to see your lab. It’s so rare I get to see another wet Tinker’s work!”

He stood still, evaluating her. “Just see it? Then you’ll leave? And Taylor will be fine?”

She nodded, “Then I’ll leave and Taylor will be A-okay.”

\---

Bonesaw spun on her stool as she considered her newly acquired loot with a giggle. On her table lay long rolls of fabric and an half-finished outfit. She had taken the materials from a silly old Tinker in Brockton Bay. He hadn’t even realized who she was until it was much too late and she was in his lab. It was too easy, maybe she should’ve left him to mature for a few months. If he had a few months, his tinker tech would’ve been much better! Buuuut, he also could’ve resisted her a lot better and they might not have even been on this side of the continent by then. It would’ve just been too plain messy.

Jack had only been willing to make the detour because of how rare wet Tinkers were in the first place. The silly old man hadn’t covered his tracks very well and certain people noticed when new Tinkers popped up. Especially ones who worked with people. And if those people noticed, Jack noticed. And if Jack noticed, he usually told her. She had been so excited and they hadn’t been too far away. He insisted that they stay quiet, so she hadn’t been allowed to use bits of him and his creations to make art. Phooey. She could’ve done so much between her spiders and his fabric. She’d just have to make up for it in the future.

It was so rare that anything else played nice with her power and she couldn’t help but giggle constantly as she looked at her gains. Fabric that ran off blood! And it didn’t just run off blood, it was alive in a way. A living, parasitic organism. If she was right, it could even be intelligent with the right tweaks and enough fabric. Sure, it wasn’t her tinker tech, but it registered to her power and that was enough to let her make use of it. She’d have to spend time deconstructing it to get a good idea of exactly how it worked, then a few rounds of material production, live tests, and so on. But when she was, the possibilities…

She had the stool spin again, the man who had lived in this house giving it a push from his position on the floor. Her control system deep in his spine and nervous system. She stopped, looking down at the fabric. Long, multi-cellular organisms that fed off a host’s energy and converted it into different forms incredibly efficiently. There were just so many ideas flooding her head! They needed a name first of all. Multi-cellular living fibers was way too long and not at all catchy.

Red String? No. Living Fabric? Nooo. Red Worms? Bleh. Red Vines? Tasty, but no. Life Fibers? That could work, she thought with a decisive nodding of her head. Jack would be so pleased with this next project!

The biggest hang-up was that the fibers tended to exert a mental influence proportional to the amount of direct surface contact they had. A little bit, or a lot bit, of mind control wasn’t so bad, but it wasn’t her mind control. And that just wouldn’t do. Especially if she wanted to use the tech on herself or Jack. So the first trick was that she had to find a way to harvest the boosting effects of the fibers without letting them do their voodoo.

She hunched over the table as she went to work, hands tearing apart the fibers, re-configuring them, and trying again and again. Splice her own DNA into them? It helped certainly, but there was still a clear risk once she cobbled a larger group together. The sentience was, of course, an emergent feature. She simply had to prevent communication between the fibers and much like neurons separated from a network, they’d be no more intelligent than any other cell.

“Gosh darn gee darn.” She hummed out as she worked. The fibers didn’t exert any influence when separated, but they certainly didn’t provide any of their benefits. Useless, useless, useless. The DNA step had been significant headway. Ideas flew through her brain, being generated and discarded just as fast as she sifted the best out from among them.  
There it was.

The life fibers only attempted to influence her because she registered as foreign! If she simply integrated some of their biomarkers into her own cells and spliced some of her more critical ones back into the fibers, they’d read identical. The fibers wouldn’t know where Bonesaw started and where they ended. With no host to try and influence, they wouldn’t react. She’d still need an activation and control system, but it would be a cinch to figure out once she had run a few tests.

She felt a thump against the bottom of the stool, the man’s arm had fallen over after she forgot to let him put it down. He’d do nicely for a test…

…

Boy, did he scream a lot. Well, he tried. She had cut his vocal cords out long before she had started, but he certainly was doing his gosh darn best to get some sort of tortured sound out. Maybe she was too zealous at cutting people’s voices off. It was an avenue she hadn’t explored much and Jack did hate when one of the Nine got too predictable.

But she was getting such amazing results~

Now, all she had to do was integrate the life fibers across her entire body. The modifications would make them hers. Once she was done she could do Jack and Burnscar too! Siberian couldn’t get any of her toys and Mannequin wouldn’t accept them. Crawler...well they could find out together!

She’d do it all awake. Sure, she could automate the procedure, but then she couldn’t enjoy it herself. She needed something to tide her over while they were laying low. That meanie Chevalier had nearly crushed poor Burnscar and Jack would be pissed if they drew his attention again.

They were bickering right next to her workspace even about it.

“Why don’t we just announce our presence in Philly? That’ll serve the cretin right.”

“Shatterbird, my dear, ol’ Chevalier already knows we’re here. There’d be no surprise. We’re still down a member and while MurderRat is amazing, she is starting to falter.”

“We still have seven, that’s more than enough.”

“Ah, very true, but now that they know we’re here they’ve probably already handled the glass. You wouldn’t get to do your scream even. We’d win, but where would the fun be?”

“Hmph.”

“Next city you’ll get to spread your wings, it’ll be all the better when they can’t prepare for it.”

She breathed out slowly, gathering her tools. It was always embarrassing if she forgot one and had to ask Jack to grab it while she had her chest cavity opened up. Well, no time like the present! What would she be if she slacked off in front of Jack? Not a good girl, that was certain.

\---

Oh wow.

She felt **so alive.** She had so much energy. She always had energy, but compared to before she was like an armadillo to a sloth. Wait. Not an armadillo. A hedgehog? The one that ran really fast. She giggled. She’d have to test how much the life fibers had improved her previous work. She crossed the room, a spring in her step. Her internal clock had barely ticked and she ran a diagnostic. Hmm, no error? Run a second diagnostic. Still no error.

She noticed she was still giggling loudly. She was just that fast now! Oh Jack would just be ever so pleased. She rushed to his side to tell him.

“Jack! It worked, it worked, it worked so well!”

Jack whipped around, looking at her shocked. Didn’t he hear her coming? He was never surprised. His face gray as he looked down at her, “That’s lovely Bonesaw.” He gave her a pat on the head.

“I’m ready to do you now.”

He paused.

“Not the entire deal I think.”

She frowned. “No?”

He shook his head. “No, just the basics for me and everyone else.”

She skewed her lips to the side but nodded rapidly. Jack looked oddly queasy at her, had he eaten something bad? That was the problem with couch-surfing. Some people just didn’t take care of their food or feed their guests well like good girls should. She’d have to find where she left that woman in the ranch house.

Well, she could go grab Burnscar if he wasn’t feeling well. She skipped out of the room and looked at Burnscar.

Burnscar was just staring at the burning washing machine.

Bonesaw waited.

Burnscar was still staring at the fire.

Bonesaw waited.

Bonesaw left to get Cherish.

Cherish yelped as she appeared. She was shaking as she looked at her. She frowned back, did everyone eat something wrong? She hadn’t had time to fully fortify Cherish, so it was possible she’d get sick. Especially if Jack was even a bit unwell.

“Cherish, you look sick! I can fix that.”

She shook her head furiously. “N-no thanks. Did...did you do something new to yourself Bonesaw?”

She grinned enthusiastically. “Oh yeah. I finished putting life fibers throughout my entire body. It augments my strength, speed, endurance, and well pretty much everything. I came over to do the same to you.”

Cherish stepped back a half step. “I’ll wait...I think Jack said we needed to move soon?”

“Oh? Okay. Later then!”

She zipped off to check on Burnscar. Still staring at fire. Alright, well back to her lab space then. She did need to finish that weapon she had taken from the Tinker. One half of a giant scissor wasn’t very useful, it clearly needed the other half. She also had some great ideas for augmenting it. Life fibers only truly broke when cut from both sides, so it was clearly a counter-weapon.

The number one rule of Tinkering was to have an antidote to your poison. Or a scissorblade to your life fiber modified family. Oh, right! She needed the woman who had bad food for house guests. She could test how well the blade worked on her. She scurried up the stairs, waving at Crawler as she passed him. Watching Animal Planet all day was such a boring way to spend the day Crawler. Why do that when you can make new animals?

She grabbed the woman from upstairs where she had left her hanging from wire. It was intended to be a piece on the duality of man or something by Mannequin, but she could put her back later. She carried her, she was so light now, and went back down to her lab. Grabbing a scalpel, a needle, and a spool of thread she went to work.

A bit of life fiber in the limbs to strengthen them. Another thicker set in the chest cavity to reinforce it. Some around the lungs to increase maximum volume. Plenty in the back for good core strength and support. Along the spine to tie directly into the peripheral nervous system. Some woven into the heart to tie it all together. A control spider to make sure she didn’t hurt herself. Oh and to make sure she was aware of everything Bonesaw did. Art needed an audience after all!

Her hands flew, time had barely passed as she got the surgery done. She’d need to pump plenty of artificial blood in, but she could quickly synthesize some of that. She drained the blood bag into the marionette she had made. The marionette was covered in life fibers, she didn’t need to look stylish for now.

Now who had a piece on the duality of man? Huh, Mannequin? That’s right, Bonesaw did. And hers even had a built in mp3 player.

Wait.

That was her mp3 player! She frantically grabbed a scalpel, she needed that back!

The woman would just have to do without the ability to play Kidz Bop 2011 constantly.

\---

It had taken annoyingly long. The cops kept showing up and interrupting her work. First was Shatterbird, who had looked so excited when she mentioned it might make flying easier for her. She was screaming a lot on the operating table though.

“Why the fuck-

“Language!”

“-can’t you just put me under for this?”

“Jack said you won’t appreciate it if you don’t feel it.”

“Does he appreciate how much I want to kill you right now instead?”

She tsked at Shatterbird, clicking her tongue. “Manners.”

Shatterbird started to rile up and a little indicator in her eye went off. Her Corona started to light up and Bonesaw hit the switch that knocked her out. She’d be fine, but she had far too many vials in here, it would set her back days if Shatterbird went and destroyed them. Besides, glass didn’t mix well with blood in her opinion. It wouldn’t have given the room the right contrast.

\---

She checked on Burnscar. Burnscar was on fire now.

Oh gosh darn drat fuckity fuck. She went to fetch a fire extinguisher and hosed Burnscar down.

Burnscar was still spaced out, but she brought the small smoldering fire with her and she seemed fine with everything. She looked and asked if Burnscar was paying attention.

Still staring at the fire.

She hit the knock-out switch. Her lab equipment was only partially flame-proof.

\---

Cherish really needed to stop shaking if she was going to operate. She was such a baby sometimes. Personally, Bonesaw didn’t think she’d cut it for very long. Sure she had killed Hatchet Face, but he had been easy to take down with a long range power. She just didn’t have the right attitude about the whole thing.

“I don’t really need these, my powers are just fine.” Cherish swallowed audibly, impressive given that she hadn’t any fluids for hours before.

“Jack said you need them so we don’t lose you to a stray bullet.” She took the spool of fibers out, measuring once, cutting twice.

“Isn’t that what your old tech was for? Why can’t I just use that?”

“Cause this is new tech and works better! Everyone loves a free upgrade!” She grabbed an IV, pushing the needle under Cherish’s skin.

“No one likes a mandatory free upgrade!” Cherish yelped.

Bonesaw hushed her, a finger to her lips as the scalpel started down her skin. Her hands moved so quickly and lightly as she flensed Cherish. She didn’t appreciate it, Bonesaw noticed, as she screamed profanity. She took the needle, thread wound through it and started to sew, the red fiber matching the inside of Cherish juuuuust right. The colors were so vivid and pretty together, the temptation to string Cherish up as a marionette like this was just- it was such a good idea.

Just as she felt her emotions start to swing wildly, Cherish collapsed on the table and her emotions stopped. Jack was right, those implants were a great idea.

\---

Turns out Crawler was not life fiber compatible. Though he might be immune to them now, since when she had tried there had been a bit of a scuffle between him and a ball of fabric. It had been a loud fight, wrecking half the kitchen and ruining yet another hideout. They had to bail from that one and she thought Crawler had eaten the fabric, so she assumed that was a win for him. To be fair, the fibers had insulted him and called him fat. He hadn’t heard it, but she had relayed it for him.

She didn’t **need** life fibers to shut him down, but it would’ve been nice. Nothing was ever nice with Crawler, he just said mean things and dripped acid on all of their furniture. He was the worst houseguest like that. Jack said he was just troubled, but she wasn’t sure how much she believed that. Jack hadn’t eaten a ball of her best work just because he felt like picking a fight. He had handled the surgery with the same smooth politeness he always did.

He still had an odd gray look when he looked at her lately, but maybe he was just getting older? People went gray when they got old. She should offer to reverse that for him when they had a moment next. She could always just take out and replace some of those bits when he slept. She thought she had a spare thyroid sitting around in one of her jars.

In the meantime, she had a big project that would make their next entrance the grandest yet. Shatterbird had her scream, but that was boring. It just maimed a few thousand people every time. She had a much more creative idea for her new creations. She even had a special project for when she found just the right person.

The Tinker had left a half-finished outfit, clearly a prototype. A white dress that could be worn to give the user similar benefits that she got from her total body conversion, though it still had the issue of the mental influence. She just wanted to tweak it, make it better. But such a special project needed the perfect person. It couldn’t just be a piece of art, it had to be a gift.

Now, who would she nominate for that vacant slot anyway?


	7. Chapter 5: Trigger

### Chapter 5: Trigger

I pulled away concrete and rebar, my gloves filthy with dirt and blood. The arch of the doorway trembled at the motion and I only had a split second to catch the collapsing doorway. I threw both hands up, taking the weight of the ceiling onto my shoulders.

“Ichor! You ok?” Dave, one of the agents helping with the rescue work, shouted to me.

I grit my teeth, nodding. “Yeah, just get them out of there. I can hold.” It was true. I could even throw it off probably, but that might just lead to a serial collapse. Dave gave a grimace and nodded, heading into the small opening I had made. I waited as he took the time to fully check the space.

Every now and then there was another explosion in the distance, though they had tapered off after the first few hours. None of the Wards had shown up that I had seen so far. I was worried. Missy, Dean, and Chris didn’t have powers that protected them that well from bombs. Dennis and Carlos were probably okay, assuming Dennis had enough time to freeze himself. Rory might be able to do something with his voice? I wasn’t sure.

_They might be fine, you don’t even know if they were hit by any of the blasts. They’re probably just helping with local clean-up efforts._ It’s true, worrying wouldn’t get me anywhere. Dave crawled back through the gap, a distant sadness on his face told me all I needed to know about what he had found. This was really starting to take a toll on the survivors. The initial destruction had been bad enough, but the aftermath was just starting to sink in. Add to that the fact that comms were largely down and the isolation and uncertainty was hitting people.

I looked down to Dave, trying to sound more determined than I felt, “Let’s go. There’s still other rooms where people need us.”

He rallied himself, energy returning to him as he got clear. _Good guy._ I let the roof down slowly, bending at the knees and feeling things shift above me. I gave it a bit of a push away from me as I darted outof the space, the section collapsing the rest of the way. It was unfortunate, but we didn’t have time. Every minute that passed lower the odds of successful rescue for anyone else trapped.

We moved on to another room that had been caved in by the blast. Dave started removing the smaller debris while I worked at the larger pieces. My arms were still full of strength, the outfit doing it’s tinker bullshit work, but they simultaneously felt heavy and exhausted. Like limp noodles that still worked really well, it was a disconcerting effect.

Dave got a crowbar and helped me slowly shift one of the larger pieces blocking the doorway. A gap formed and we heard a voice cry out from within.

“Oh thank god! Please, get me out of here!”

Dave called back in a re-assuring voice, “We’re right here, just hold on a few more minutes and we’ll have you out.”

I started to shift the concrete chunk. Right as we shifted it out of the way the ceiling started to collapse again. Dave was in the way. I have to protect him. Concrete was falling around us both, I reached out, pushing him out of the way.

The voice from inside cried out, “No, no! Don’t leave me trapped!”

I stumbled, suddenly I was looking at two giant beings spiraling in an airless void, larger and more incomprehensible than planets or stars. They moved so slowly that time almost seemed stopped. They were looking for something, looking through every single point in time for a planet.

_ Destination._

_ Agreement._

Everything returned. I felt the weight of the concrete crushing me. Dave was yelling something at me. I was on one knee, the concrete pushing down on my back. I struggled to push up, I didn’t have good leverage and most of the ceiling for the area was pressing down on me. Suddenly I felt the weight disappear, I stood up and concrete chunks floated off me.

The woman from inside stood next to me, eyes wide and her hand out. I looked at her, then at the chunk of concrete which floated in the air like a balloon. Dave rushed over to me, fussing.

“You alright? You saved my ass there.”

I was fixated on the woman. “You triggered.”

She looked at her hand, turning it over slowly before nodding, “I...Yeah. I was so afraid of being trapped again and then I could just...I knew if I touched it, it would be easy to move.”

The concrete chunk just drifted slowly in the air. I turned to Dave. He seemed to be alright. A bit dirtier and scruffier than before, but alive and uninjured.

“Hey. Susan, right? C’mon. Take my hand and we’ll get you to a medic, okay?” Dave took her hand, escorting her carefully down the rubble strewn corridor. I followed behind, rolling my shoulders. _Why had I blacked out right as the rubble fell? Did something hit my head?_ It didn’t feel like something had, but I did have a pretty good Brute rating now.

I followed as we made our way back to the current base of operations in the most stable part of the building. Most of it was outside, in tents that had been set up where more debris couldn’t fall on anyone, but the coordinators were inside using what phone and internet lines still worked. As Dave led the woman off towards the medical tents outside, one of the officers nearby was desperately speaking into a phone.

“At best we can get maybe two, three trucks to your location. It’ll take at least ten minutes though.”

He listened, his face strained before he responded, “No, no word. Reinforcements from outside are maybe an hour out I’d say.”

He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Also no word. Only Ichor and Aegis have reported in. Ichor is assisting here, Aegis is busy rescuing civilians near his house.”

He looked over at me, a hard and apologetic look in his eyes, “Will do.” He hung up, putting the phone down as he approached me. He looked ashen and pale, speaking slowly. “Ichor...The Protectorate is engaging Lung near Melnard and Sixth. He’s already ramped up from fighting the Empire and they need reinforcements; Battery, Miss Militia, and Dauntless are injured.”

I felt tense. Fighting supervillains was something I had no practice at. Fighting Lung was...a bad idea. And he had already taken down half the Protectorate.

“What do you need me to do?”

He looked at me long and hard, eyes downcast. “I’ll never forgive myself for sending a Ward, but we need you to go down and help them evac. Velocity and Assault can get them out, but only if they have some breathing room.”

I nodded, trying not to let my nerves reach my face. I quickly turned towards the exit to hide my face. “Tell them I’m on my way.” I started to jog out the doors before he could respond. I shifted up a gear into a run as I passed the tents. Once I was past people entirely I broke into a sprint, the suit boosting my speed fast enough to give rush hour traffic a streak of envy. I dashed down the streets.

The city was in bad shape. Power was clearly out along most of the streets I ran down. I passed a building that was frozen like a giant ice sculpture, the people inside frozen just the same in the windows. I passed plenty of burnt out and scarred buildings, plenty of people in the streets assisting with rescue efforts. Also plenty who were clearly out to grab what they could. The police were out in force as I streaked by in a red and black blur, but they wouldn’t have enough officers to handle the whole city.

We needed the Protectorate and PRT assisting, and right now both were stuck and crippled. If I could free up at least one, it would go a long way. They may be backstabbing negligent pigs, _coughcoughArmsmastercough_ , but they would know how to help. I launched off a pile of debris, clearly a blocked street in one bound. I passed a park where the birds looped every few seconds back to where they were. The people did as well. I hoped that one was temporary.

As I rounded another street corner, I heard thesounds of combat draw close. The roar of flames and the crash of claw against steel grew louder. I saw the devastation that Lung had caused. Large gashes in the sides of building, the smell of burning rubber and electronics. A torched body lay in an impact crater next to a store front. _A cape perhaps?_ Someone who had drawn Lung’s ire, at least.

I turned the corner to see Lung, towering over Armsmaster. He was a massive dragon at this point, wings budding from his back and shimmering scales covering every inch of him. His jaw had split and he had a wreath of flame around him. Armsmaster looked ragged, his armor was scored and his suit covered in ash. He spun his halberd, sliding under Lung’s swing and scoring him along the forearm. Assault was right in there with him, bouncing around Lung in a mad fray as he tried to avoid Lung’s tail whipping at him.

I put an extra step into my sprint and took a running jump off the top of a car, careening wildly straight for Lung. Armsmaster shouted something from below and I saw why. Lung saw me coming and the tail had whipped right back at me. I tried to corkscrew mid-air, feeling the tail crash into myside and pain shooting through my body as I was thrown. I hurtled straight into the side of a building, crumpling as I crashed through a window and rolled across the floor.

I laid there, wheezing for a moment. Everything hurt. The world was light and pain.

_I can’t fail. Not here._

I stood up, staggering to my feet. I felt my suit pound with my power. _It had a feeling? No. It wanted something?_ The power responded to that thought. It wanted something of me. I wanted power. The power to take on Lung and buy them time to get the rest out of there.

I felt...an agreement was come to.

I felt angry. The suit was full of anger, full of rage and bloodthirst. It wanted to express that on the world. It would work with me if we worked together to do that. I looked at Lung out the window frame, pressing Armsmaster and Assault back; I spied Dauntless trying to cover an injured Battery at the side of the battle. I didn’t feel the pain in my arm or my ribs anymore.

I launched out the window, tearing through the air at breakneck speed. Far faster than I had moved before. The air screamed in response and I screamed back.

I crashed into the side of Lung in a full body tackle. He listed, turning and swiping at me in surprise. I twisted through his claws, throwing a punch that rung through the block as I shattered his forearm. Turning in the air I swung my leg, kicking him in the side of the face and sending him crashing sideways.

Suddenly I was in the ground, a small crater of shattered pavement around me. I saw his tail slither back towards him.

_That tail needs to go._

I became aware Armsmaster was shouting at me from my side, “Ichor! Status?”

I stood up, brushing the dirt off me. I shouted back, “Fine!”

Blood pounded in my ears as I felt it feed the suit far more efficiently than ever before. I spat a little out, watching Lung. Don’t take your eyes off him. Don’t let him escape. Don’t let him get away with this.

“Ichor, back off and help Velocity evac Battery and Dauntless.”

"I can take his hits, I'm better here."

I rolled my head, stretching my neck and feeling it crack nicely in relief. I dashed forwards, Lung was already recovering from my blows. They had barely slowed him and we needed to do more than that. I needed to hit harder. I screamed as I came down through the air, I knew what he would do. His tail whipped straight for me and I reached out, grabbing onto it as I was pasted into the side of a storefront. I held fast as he tried to pull it back, feeling my blood burn with the effort.

Twisting, I heaved with my entire body and whipped him across the street into the same building by his tail. I saw Armsmaster join us, driving his halberd down into the tail, pinning it to the ground. Lung twisted, his mouth splitting open as he bellowed flames at the both of us. My blood surged out ofme, a spray gushing out to meet the flame and douse it. An acrid smell filled the air as my blood boiled in the flames. Lung pushed harder and I split my stream, sending a second to blast him across the side of his head.

Armsmaster had pulled a device out, jamming syringes into Lung’s tail as I covered him. He had to roll out of the way as Lung rallied, raking his claws across the hero’s halberd, destroying it. I dove in, weaving a cloak of blood across the battlefield to hide my movements. I could feel the suit demanding more. I flew out of the cloud of blood, punching Lung straight in the face. He reeled back, less than before, and I fell with a crash to the ground as his claws batted me out of the air. A dull ache in my back quickly went away as I felt the outfit protect me.

Armsmaster was further back, shouting something. I strained to hear him past the pounding of my blood as I weaved more streams of blood to hit Lung from multiple sides one after another.

_Why couldn’t I hear him?_ Lung smashed into me with his full weight and I felt myself pinned against the ground, claws pressing down on me.

I needed to break Lung, make him bleed for his crimes. I pushed back against the claws, feeling them rise a bit with each moment. I dug my fingertips into his flesh, feeling scales crack and give to my grip.

Something was wrong with my head. I wasn’t this angry. My strength faltered, the claws pushed back down and I could barely stave them off. Where did my strength go? I felt the suit withdrawing from me, giving me less.

_ No, no, no, no. Not now. I need power now!_ I raised a leg, adding it to my efforts to keep Lung from crushing me. I could feel the heat pushing against me, I hadn’t felt it before. I wreathed myself in blood, insulating myself from the burning air.

Lung pushed down and I felt my left arm crack, pain distracting me from my struggle with my suit for power. I cried out involuntarily as the arm fell limp to my side and the claws pushed down closer.

I threw blood from every angle at Lung, trying to distract him by filling his nostrils with burnt and boiling blood. He snorted out fire, clearing his nostrils. I got my other leg up and kicked, giving myself barely enough space to roll out as the leg crashed down where I had been. Lung raised a claw, swiping at me once more. I dove out of the way only to feel his tail smack me from behind.

Pain. Something in my back crunched with the blow. I lost sensation in one leg, except for my three smallest toes. What an odd thing to notice at a time like this. The suit still frothed at me in raw emotions, refusing to let me have its power as I lay battered in the street.

Lung reared over me, about to come crashing down. I had no way to block that much weight. I wouldn't lose. Not now. Not to the likes of him. All this and I was useless. Useless!

Lung reeled back suddenly, I turned my head to the side and looked up for the cause. Dauntless, bleeding heavily from his side, had charged into Lung and his Arclance was dug deep into Lung’s eye. Lung roared, turning his gaze on Dauntless.

He was too close.

I pushed myself up, blood dripping from my arms and stumbling.

Lung swung his claw at Dauntless.

I rushed forward, limping on one leg. I needed more speed.

Dauntless raised his shield slowly.

I wasn’t fast enough. The suit was fighting me for control. I needed to be fast enough. I needed to make it in time. I raged against the intelligence, pushing my will against its. Our wills clashed and I felt my strength sap away. My steps slowed.

A hero wasn’t about bloodthirst. A hero wasn’t going to maim someone out of anger. I couldn’t let the suit push me to work that way. I had to work my way. If I couldn’t do it without the suit making meinto a monster, it would never work.

I was only a few steps from Dauntless.

Lung’s claw crashed into his shield, shattering it.

I felt warm blood spray across my face.

Dauntless sagged and fell to the ground.

I had failed.

I had gotten Dauntless killed. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I cradled him, trying to check for a pulse. Armsmaster was shouting at Lung, trying to draw his attention. Lung was taking the bait, lumbering over towards the Tinker.

_He doesn’t have his halberd, Lung broke it. Lung’s going to kill him too._

I pulled as much blood out as I could, pushing it into the suit, force feeding it. I felt my blood roiling under the suit’s fabric, boiling at my failure. The sailor suit gorged itself on my blood and the world went red. My mouth felt the taste of hatred and my ears heard the smell of blood.

The world was a hazy red, yet somehow I still knew exactly where Lung was and just where I was going to hit him.

\---

Armsmaster shouted at Lung, spewing profanity that his filter indicated would at the very least get him reprimanded for three months and possibly demoted. He didn’t care. He had just watched Dauntless die and it was very possible he was about to lose Ichor too.

He had been mad at Ichor at first. He had tried to be patient with her and she had been nothing but trouble, attacking Shadow Stalker as soon as she joined. After he had spoken with the girl, how she felt betrayed by him, he had been upset and seethed in private. He had called Dragon only to find that she took the girl’s side. It had been a long night as she had explained to him how he had failed her. The hurt she was feeling. He realized that instead of thinking of it as a blow to his career, he should consider what his career meant if it had allowed such mistakes.

Armsmaster had been forced to spend days in careful consideration, rarely leaving his workshop. She had been right, of course. Dragon so often was. Now he stood at the precipice, watching the Ward that he had failed to help dive into battle with Lung. She was out of strength and he was nearly out of tools. But he would be damned if he was going to let her down a second time.

Lung lumbered towards him and he grabbed a small sphere from his utility belt. The nanothorns were still being refined, but he had quickly adopted some into a barrier grenade. Larger and more spread out than he’d like, but he couldn’t be picky in the middle of this disaster. The Tinker rolled to the side as Lung’s tail whipped overhead, grabbing a rock as he went. First the rock, to distract Lung. Right after the grenade, thrown low to get under his guard.

Lung reared back as the grenade popped into a sphere of nanothorns, tearing apart his chest instantaneously. Behind Lung he saw Ichor and panick pushed through him. Her costume was doing what he could only think of as bubbling, the fabric warping and pulsating as it expanded out. If her tinker-tech was suffering a critical failure, he needed to get her out of it. He wasn’t sure what the effects would be, but malfunctioning tinker-tech was rarely benign.

He started to dash forward, optimizing a route that would allow him to slide under Lung while planting his second grenade on him. Dangerous, but it was the most efficient. He doubted the heat sinks in his suit would be able to handle the ambient flames, but going around would cost him precious seconds.

As he prepared to slide under Lung, the dragon listed forward towards him. Armsmaster rolled off to the side in a sudden change in direction, barely getting clear as the dragon crashed into asphalt face first with a crack. A thing was on top of Lung, tearing at his back with its bare hands, ripping the shimmering scales and throwing them aside. Its flesh a sickly green and its limb horribly disproportionate, black and red in color.

Ichor.

The sobering realization hit him. Her suit was malfunctioning horribly from all appearances, but she seemed to have the power to tear into Lung once more. Had the damage caused critical failure? Velocity appeared at his side.

“Boss, Battery is clear. What the fuck-”

Armsmaster nodded mechanically as he took the scene in. Lung clawing desperately trying to reach her on his back, Ichor pulling at a wing with the sound of ripping flesh.

“Take Assault, retrieve Dauntless.”

Velocity hesitated, looking down at Armsmaster with concern before he nodded and disappeared in a flash. The Tinker turned, evaluating the on-going struggle. Ichor had managed to rip one of Lung’s wings free and was smacking him in the head with it while Lung covered her in his inferno.

He tried to think through his options. His motorcycle had been taken out early when they had encountered Lung fighting Kaiser. His halberd had stood up well, but Lung had an hour’s worth of conflict he estimated and even it wasn’t built to take shear stress at that angle with that force. He was a Tinker without his gear and it was quickly frustrating him. He still had his armor and the crude version of his combat predictor.

Ichor was grappling Lung, her warped hands holding off a claw that attempted to crush her. He quickly saw the problem. She wasn’t fighting strategically at all, just pounding blow after blow into Lung’s hide. Given enough time, he’d grow to resist it and there was no guarantee her tinker-tech would hold up that long even.

His helmet buzzed with static as Velocity reported in.

“ZzzDauntless -vored…-ext idea?”

Armsmaster considered. He had only half the Protectorate in fighting shape against a ramped up Lung and they needed to corral an out of control tinker-tech suit with a Ward stuck inside. If he and Velocity could open a path for Assault, he could grab Ichor and bail out. Velocity would be able to retreat as soon as they were clear.

Right as he started to speak, the sensor suite in his helmet flashed in alarm. Exotic readings were being picked up all over the place and rapidly approaching. He shouted through the helmet, hoping it would get through either the comms or directly to their ears.

“Take cover!”

He pulled himself down behind an overturned and toasted car as the wave of exotic particles rushed up the street and washed over him, carrying on past him. A few dozen meters in front of him Lung and Ichor were stock still. Correction, not perfectly still. Moving incredibly slowly. The air around them starting to warp, defining the edge of the effect. A few meters past them was clearly a separate bubble of time, the one he was in. The one around the two combatants was slower, much slower.

His readings showed that the effect had been highly variable. The entire city was likely littered with pockets of differently moving time. It would delay coordination and relief efforts even more. Furthermore, he was helpless to save Ichor. Crossing between differently moving areas of time would be disastrous. Blood pumping in his leg suddenly at a hundredth the speed of his pelvis as he stepped through. One of a myriad of complications.

Velocity appeared next to him, looking at the slow-motion brawl that still raged down the street.

“What do we do Boss?”

Armsmaster grit his teeth. “Leave. Find Panacea, re-group, assist relief efforts at PRT HQ.”

“What about…?” Velocity glanced at the two, suspended in slow moving time.

“We can’t get to Ichor until the effect is ended. Even if we could, we’re down too many people. This gives us a chance to recover and plan.”

He looked over at Ichor, letting Tinker fugue keep his frustration at bay.

“And we hope Ichor can hold out until then.”

\---

Red. Everything red. The world was red, the smells red, the taste red. she could feel blood on the wind and hear it in her ears. Red like Dauntless’ blood. Red like how Lung’s blood would run.

Crack, my bones shattering in my wrist. The smooth pounding of blood as they knit back together. Crack, Lung’s bones breaking in his chest. That hide was in my way. Tear at it with my hands. The scales peel back a little more with each moment.

Red, my blood against the pavement. A dull, distant throbbing of my body. Fortunately I had plenty of blood. Red, I needed to make Lung bleed. I pushed feeling the fabric and blood sloughed down my arm. A drill. That could work.

Crack. Red. Finally. I could taste Lung’s blood pour out of the wound. Lung hits me. I hit Lung. Lung tries to crush me. I throw Lung by his tail. Lungbathes me in flames. My blood boils off, protecting me.

Lung hits. I hit.

I hit. Lung hits.

I didn’t try to keep track of the blows, feeling only the desperate sadness, locked in my head as I fought autonomously. I had failed. I didn’t know Dauntless well, but I had failed him. I had lost Dad. I had lost my faith in the Protectorate. I had lost my faith in myself as I watched Dauntless fall.

I let myself fall into the rhythm of battle once more, letting time wash away, only concerned with making Lung bleed.

Red.

\---

Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years passed. Or it felt like they did. It felt like I had been fighting for an eternity, the Earth having drawn close to a near bursting red sun, the landscape scorched and blasted.

Suddenly a change in circumstance. We both paused, noticing it. The crack of gunfire as rounds slammed into Lung’s side. A flash of blue as a man in bright armor streaked past, dual halberds slamming down onto Lung’s back. A flash of red and of silver between his legs. Volleys of white foam fell from the sky, weighing him down.

He reared back, lashing out and ripping the foam from the ground. The figure in red narrowly avoiding a claw swipe. Memories pushed to the surface. A figure in white and gold falling to the ground.

_Not again._

I stepped forward, reaching out and grabbing Lung by his split jaw, bathing in the stream of fire that pushed out from his gullet. I whipped my arms up and then down, slamming his head into the pavement. Once. Twice. Blood ran down his draconic face, bones cracked under the scales. His shattered face spoke out in a slow heavy slur as his eyes fixated on me.

“Shtrengefth not yers... Kahm...mooey…”

I saw a glimpse of the figure in blue driving his halberd into Lung’s torso, a syringe tip gleaming brightly, before foam piled atop Lung and me both. We could barely move, locked in together. I found the energy to headbutt Lung. He snarled and tried to retaliate, his struggling only drawing him deeper into the foam.

I felt my blood slow as I knew Lung lay trapped and injured. Defeated. Bleeding. Separated more by each second as the foam expanded and trapped us. I half stood, half lay in it as it cushioned me. As my blood dropped below boiling, the outfit pulled back towards my skin. I felt the outfit struggle against me, wanting to continue the fight.

I would’ve shook my head if I could. I was exhausted. My body ached, my muscles were dead tired. Lung was defeated. I pulled my blood back from the needle tips in the outfit, refusing to feed it any further. The suit raged and fought, I felt it pull at my mind. I closed my eyes and waited. I was too tired, too consumed by failure to let the anger take me again.

Instead I looked back. _What had gone wrong?_ I had been too eager to take Lung on. I had wanted to save the day, instead of fighting strategically. Lung ramped up the more he fought. That meant I couldn’t afford to waste time punching him. No, I should’ve gone for a take-down immediately.

I ran through each detail in my head. How to counter his flames: drown him in blood. How to restrain him: get him from behind where he had limited access. How to capture: coordinate with allies to get sedatives and containment foam. Each step I could’ve done better I ran through in my head a dozen times. I couldn’t afford another screw-up. I had to be calculated in my actions.

In the middle of my self-reflection I felt the foam begin to melt and slide away from me. Daylight seeped through and hands reached in to help me climb out. Armsmaster stood there, ragged, his normally perfect pose filled with the imperfections of sleep deprivation. Assault was the owner of the hand helping me out, speaking to me.

“Easy now, easy. You still with us little lady?”

I nodded slowly, head dropping a bit. I would’ve been embarrassed if I had the energy to spare.

Assault smiled tenderly. “Good. We’re gonna get you in a van and outta that outfit, then straight to Panacea, you got it?”

I mumbled back, “Panacea?”

He gave a nod. “After that fight, oh yeah. You were lucky.” He led me slowly to the back of a PRT van, supporting most of my weight for me as I dragged my uncooperative legs along.

“Lucky how?” I felt like I had been thrown into a building repeatedly. I probably had.

“Well, a bomb went off and made pockets of time all around. You and Lung got trapped in a slow one. It took Armsy and Dragon most of three days to fix it.”

He lifted me up gently, placing me down on the bench bolted to the van wall.

“With that much time we were able to get our shit together and have all the guns ready when he fixed your bubble. If you hadn’t been caught in it I don’t think we could’ve rallied in time. Not so lucky for the rest of the city, but…” He gave a grimace and shrugged it off.

_Hold up. Three days?_ It had felt like a while but there was no way I had been fighting for three days. That time bubble must’ve slowed things down massively. If what he said was true though, it had probably saved me a second time. In the end, it had come down to luck.

Assault gave me another smile. “Think you can change on your own? Great. I’m gonna wait outside, just gimme a knock when you’re ready. Put the outfit in that box-” He pointed to a very sophisticated looking box, “-when you’re done.”

Assault stepped outside, closing the doors behind him. I took a moment to breathe before slipping out of the unpowered sailor suit, tossing it unceremoniously in the box, the lid slamming shut over it with a hiss and a whir. There was a change of clothes on the bench next to me. I wearily slipped into them and rapped my knuckles against the door.

Assault opened the doors, giving a hand gesture to the side as he did. The engine started as he stepped in, closing the doors behind him. He checked the box, pushing down on the lid before a smile reappeared on his lips.

“You had us pretty worried. Piggot is gonna want a full debriefing once your health is cleared.”

“I figured... How is everyone?”

Assault looked to the side. “Well, you already know about Dauntless. I’m terrible at delivering bad news, you sure you want to know?”

I nodded, anxiety threading through my mind, “Tell me.”

He sighed. “Triumph and Gallant are in critical condition. Gallant had stayed over. The Mayor’s house was one of the initial targets. I’m sorry. The rest of the Wards are safe. Clockblocker and Vista were the ones who located and stopped Bakuda actually. Being hailed as the heroes of the hour for it.”

A hand fell on my shoulder. I stared at the far side of the van, feeling no comfort from it. I didn’t speak again until after we had pulled to a stop.

\---

I sat inside a tent outside the PRT Headquarters. The building was still scarred and broken, but three days had changed a lot. The makeshift command center had shifted, the green in front of the building had expanded into a more comprehensive emergency services center. Half of the building lit up with power, where the PRT was limping along and trying to operate.

Panacea entered my tent and I realized I recognized her. Amy from school. How was I such an idiot? I didn’t even notice Panacea was sitting at the same lunch table. That meant Victoria was Glory Girl. No big secret, considering they didn’t wear masks, but I hadn’t connected two teenagers at school with New Wave’s golden children. It probably didn't help that I avoided looking them in the face as much as possible.

Thankfully I still had my red and black mask on, I didn’t want my identity slipping out, even to them. Panacea, Amy, looked weary. She’s probably been healing non-stop since the bombings.

She approached, asking, “Ichor, right? Do I have your permission to heal you?”

I stumbled over my words, “I, uh, yeah. Of course.”

She gave a small bob of her head, a hand drifting out to take my arm. She stilled as she touched my skin, speaking lowly.

“Hm. Save for the complete muscle exhaustion and widespread fatigue, you’re fine. Though it looks like your bones were broken and healed dozen of times...oddest healing job I've seen in a while... Your blood is weird, but I assume that's from your power? I can relieve the fatigue and give you a small tune-up. Want me to fix your eyesight as well?”

I looked at her stunned. “You can do that?”

She nodded again, “Mhm. Glasses must be dangerous to fight in, so it would be a good idea.”

I reached up with my free hand for the bridge of my nose, feeling the familiar frame of my glasses. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

She shook her head and my vision started to blur as she spoke, “No, it’s simple. I’ll let the Protectorate and PRT know you’re cleared.” She started to walk out before I had even managed to form a response.

I pulled my glasses off, finding the world returned to clarity once they were gone. A strange reversal.

“Thanks!” I called out after her, though it felt insufficient. I felt full of energy and hungry. I folded my glasses up, stowing them carefully in a pocket. Even if I didn’t need them again it felt wrong to just throw them away.

Standing up I tested my legs. I had no trouble standing upright again, my strength returned to me. A PRT agent slid the tent flap to the side and gave me a nod, his head doing that chin-point thing to outside. I followed along the dirt paths between the tents and into the broken body that was the PRT building.

We went up stairs, I supposed the elevator was either not working or deemed unsafe still. Actually, now that I thought about it, there was a good chance the elevator had been in the incinerated side. That would definitely make stairs a necessity.

We got out on a level I knew with familiar dread. The walk to Piggot’s office was something I had managed to avoid since two weeks back, unlike Clockblocker who seemed to take a certain pride in taking a walk down in weekly. I deserved far worse than this anxiety anyway.

The agent opened the door and I gave him a polite nod, stepping inside. The office had suffered, much like the rest of the building, but it was hard to tell. The walls were clean, the furniture arranged and unbroken. The only hints were the mismatched chairs, the dust in the corners, the clearly patched on paint.

Piggot sat at her desk, looking strained and annoyed in much the same way that she had before. I was surprised that she hadn’t had a stroke from the stress by now with how overburdened she always looked.

Piggot spoke in a tired tone, “Ichor. Care to explain exactly what happened?”

I elected to remain standing. Sitting down felt too comfortable for what was about to transpire. “I got a call that the Protectorate needed help with Lung. I went to assist.”

She rolled her eyes up from the desk to me in a slow motion. “Is that what you call your actions?”

I looked down at my lap. “No.”

She sat there with appraising eyes on me, finally turning away to skim a document while she spoke, “At least you recognize that. While it was not entirely your fault, we lost one of the Protectorate’s brightest rising stars in that fight. We don’t know how long Gallant and Triumph will be out either, evidently whatever that bomb did to their brains is beyond Panacea’s abilities.”

_ Shit._

She turned back to me. “I expect full debriefing documents to be submitted by the end of the day. I’d have you do an extra set of courses, but both the room and instructor are gone. Since you have a luxury of time not in mandatory sessions for your terrible sense of tactics, I expect you put it to good use aiding relief efforts. There's been a number of new triggers from this disaster, see what you can do.”

I grimaced. I resented the words, but she was right. It was my fuck-up, I had to own it. I would’ve helped anyway. Her demanding it made me cringe at the thought, like it was somehow bowing to her authority yet again. I would do what I had to in order to change things, but that didn’t make me enjoy it. The tendrils of disappointment lurked at the edges of my mind. Having something to do was good, it would keep me from processing everything. I wasn't sure I'd function if I stopped moving.

“Understood.” I said through thin lips, turning to march back out the doors.


	8. Chapter 6: Don’t Toy With Me on a Whim

### Chapter 6: Don’t Toy With Me on a Whim

I looked at the shovel, bemused. Why did I have a shovel? Did they think my super strength would be more effective with a shovel when I could simply lift rubble with my hands? I knew that levers were helpful and all, but I doubted the shovel could even survive me using it as a lever. It looked and felt kinda flimsy. I knew funding was a bit thin and I had definitely found somewhere it had been taken from.

I placed the shovel to the side and started using my hands. I had transformed in order to access the strength the suit imparted me, but it was a trickle compared to my fight with Lung and a step down from before that even. I sensed a general malaise from the suit, it didn’t want to cooperate with me. Before had been a sort of stalemate where neither of us bothered to acknowledge the other, now it was actively holding back on me.

I looked around the Boardwalk, it had been one of the worst hit areas. Entire sections frozen in spirals of ice or blasted apart by fire. The time stop sections had been thankfully fixed by Armsmaster with Dragon’s help and surprisingly little issue. One section had even been hit by a bomb that had selectively targeted only inorganic material, causing everyone inside to fall into a pit. Several had broken bones, though they had been rescued days before I had been freed of my fight with Lung.

A fight which was apparently all over PHO now. People had sped up clips of it to show it in normal time. We had been slowed down a lot, but even sped up the fight lasted quite awhile. I hadn’t watched it, I remembered enough. Apparently Missy and Carlos had been visibly upset when they first arrived on the scene, leading to a long thread expressing sympathy for them and a massive PR boost for the Wards. Missy was the apple of everyone’s eye at the moment, the last few minutes of her high speed chase with Bakuda had been caught across several cameras and stitched together.

That video I had to watch. It had started out in media res, with Bakuda in a jeep staffed by some of her thugs. She was firing desperately behind her at Vista and Clockblocker who were using a combination of Vista’s spatial warping to keep up and Clockblocker’s temporal locking to block shots. Vista had warped the road out in front of the jeep while simultaneously crunching it together for her and Clockblocker as they pursued. It was like a shot out of an action movie as they dodged grenades and managed to keep up with a speeding jeep. As the jeep rounded a corner a subtle, but well placed, spatial distortion made the turn too tight and the jeep had slammed into the light post.

Bakuda’s last stand had been her and the ABB goons firing everything they had off at the Wards, hiding behind the ruined jeep like it was a trench bunker. The various grenades had made the street into a no man’s land. The camera had lost track of the Wards for about a minute when suddenly they appeared on the roof across the street. Clockblocker laid down sheets of newspaper, forming a bridge in the air that they slowly crossed to get in position above Bakuda, who was firing everything she had at the duo. Clockblocker threw sheets of paper to the sides, forming a V to protect them from the blasts as they made slow progress across. Right as Bakuda started to get up to run, Vista jumped from the cover of the bridge and warped the space between them, smacking the Tinker with a crowbar and dropping her.

It was then that everything went to hell. Bakuda, in a panic, activated the city-wide time bomb that had trapped me when she was hit by the youthful Ward. Clockblocker had quickly followed, tackling the two goons and freezing them, though without Vista’s sense of space warping he had broken his leg on the impact. The last had been seen to by Vista herself, clocking in a second KO with her newfound crowbar. There were already memes about it and a petition to let her keep it as a permanent accessory. To be fair, she was vicious with that thing. I wouldn’t want to be a criminal facing her when she had it, super strength or no.

As she downed the goon, Bakuda had tried to limp away in the background. Vista turned and hit her in the side of the knee with a crunch even the camera had caught and Bakuda buckled. Apparently Vista had been one of the first to know what had happened to Dean during the bombings. She had hunted Bakuda down ruthlessly for the hours following, culminating in her subsequent kneecapping of her. Normally the PRT would’ve had a conniption over a Ward brutally destroying someone’s kneecap with a crowbar in public, but the public was fastidiously defending her from any and all attempts at criticism. The outcry over Bakuda’s actions was sufficient that she could’ve executed her on the spot with only minimal repercussions at that point.

The forums also had threads for those trying to find lost friends and family, and those who knew they would never find them. The mood in Brockton Bay was the worst I had ever seen. Gone was the sense of quiet hopelessness and resignation, in its place was an acute sense of loss, of grieving, and of anger. Anger, in particular, was winning out. The Empire had lost Victor in the fight with Lung, and it was rumored that Krieg hadn’t been seen since. The Merchants were aggressively taking territory that was formerly ABB turf. The ABB was shattered. Bakuda was crippled and captured, Lung was sedated and awaiting transfer to a more secure facility, and Oni Lee was dead, killed by Kaiser during the fight with Lung. Without their capes, they didn’t stand a chance at holding out. The fact that the police force was targeting them with extreme prejudice and that they had lost any protection from the public outing their hideouts only sealed their fate further.

Rumor was even the Undersiders were grabbing chunks of their territory. Hellhound’s dogs had been spotted in one of the areas a few times since the ABB leadership had been decapitated. The city was, frankly, a mess. I didn’t see any positives outcomes. While we had essentially removed one of the strongest gangs in Brockton Bay, we only had the other gangs resurging in their absence. The Empire moved boldly in daylight hours, knowing the police and PRT were far too busy to pursue them. All I had been able to do so far was scare them off from the Boardwalk, leaving it tentatively unclaimed as I worked relief there.

The problem was, I mused as my hands tossed yet another chunk of rubble into the slowly filling trash container, that I could only be in one place and even then not all the time. As it was, I was breaking youth labor laws being out here all day. Not that anyone would care right now, but I couldn’t keep this schedule up when school and patrols returned to normal. No, I needed a solution to the gang problem. Removing one gang had only driven the city into worse chaos and higher tension. All of them needed to be removed if we were to truly start recovering.

The next problem was that the PRT would never let the Wards commence full scale anti-gang warfare. They wouldn’t even let us patrol in areas deemed too dangerous usually. Going behind their backs was an option, but not one I wanted to pursue just yet. If I could get a solid victory on perfectly acceptable grounds, I could handle the gap left by the wounded Protectorate.

But the PRT hadn’t even managed a half-assed victory against the gangs in years.

Clearly, I couldn’t follow conventional tactics. I finished clearing the rubble from the building, leaving the intact half of the shop now wide open to looters and the elements. Hmm, maybe I should put the rubble back? I shot a question over to one of the guys coordinating efforts and he waved me to another section, saying he’d handle it. _Good enough, I guess._

In order to win, I had to play by the rules. What could I do then? I could do relief efforts and patrol. How could I weaken and destroy E88 that way? I’d have to encounter them first. But, our current efforts were focused at minimizing conflict with them, with the Wards and Protectorate both down capes. So I’d have to find a reasonable excuse to be in the same area. I could suggest a change to the areas we went based on observations. Given how overloaded the administration was, they likely wouldn’t take too much time to examine it. If I made it acceptable enough, I could get us some routes through areas that overlapped and with proper timing, take down an Empire cape or two and stifle their expansion.

The plan definitely need more work, but I felt ideas coming together. Trading patrol times with the other Wards to ensure I would be on at the right time, using the patterns I had observed from working console for two weeks to predict where they’d appeared. Slight fabrications of paperwork to nudge every incident in the direction of perfectly acceptable. I’d rid the city of the scum that had made my Dad’s attempts to revitalize it futile. In a way, I was glad he died. Had he lived to see the bombings I’m not sure his spirit could’ve taken it, he had already been so overworked.

Seeing the Docks ruined for years to come and any hope at funding for a ferry or Boat Graveyard revitalization disappear? It was better he didn’t have to see the city sink even deeper. I wiped a bud of moisture from my eye, smearing dirt and grime across my mask. I had lost too many people in the last month. I had to push myself harder, become more unyielding. I could’ve easily died fighting Lung. Instead I had survived, but at the cost of someone else’s life and only by luck.

I threw myself into the work ahead of me. I hated what the Boardwalk stood for: the pandering of the mayor to the few rich who stayed in Brockton Bay, the neglect of other areas in exchange for more attention, the obvious classism and corruption rife in it while it did next to nothing for the average Brocktonite. But, it was important. I had to get it cleared so repairs could begin, the sooner we got the Boardwalk up and running, the sooner I could be moved to other more important areas.

\---

I dragged my feet through the doorway, trudging towards the couches in the Wards’ room. Clockblocker sat on console, the other Wards either at home or out helping with relief efforts. As I collapsed on the couch from exhaustion I gave Dennis a wave, getting a half assed one in return.

I glanced over the lip of the couch at him. “What, no snarky remark on how bad I look?” I gestured lazily to my grime-covered self.

Dennis snorted. “I’m not that unoriginal. Besides, if I said something every time you came in covered in crap I’d run out of jokes awfully fast.”

I rolled my eyes in return. “Thanks for the encouragement.”

Dennis shrugged. “Hey I’m just here to look pretty while Little Miss Crowbar kneecaps the baddies.”

At that I gave a small chuckle. “Vista wanted to be taken seriously, I think she’s got it now.”

Dennis replied bitingly, “Hard not to take people seriously now, not when they can get killed any minute.” An air of sulking forming around him as his eyes returned to the console and avoided me.

I sunk in my seat slowly, remaining silent, not knowing what to say to that. Instead I closed my eyes, willing the transformation to undo. I hated being seen in it still, but it had become a necessity. And I wouldn’t have made it to the couch as exhausted as I was without the super strength. I mulled over my plans for the next few days and how I could manipulate things towards my end goals.

I startled awake as I felt someone plop on the other end of the couch, the blackness of sleep clearing from my head. Huh, I guess I had dozed off while plotting. I cracked open my eyes and saw Missy, looking ragged and worn out on the other end of the couch. Why was she here? I had gotten back way after sunset, for her to be here meant she was either staying the night or I had slept all the way through to morning.

The clock at the top of the console indicated it was a bit after one in the morning. She must be staying the night then. But why? Most of the Wards were spending as much time as they could around their families, Browbeat had practically disappeared with how much he looked after his. I had an inkling that her home life wasn’t so good, but that didn’t give me enough. And really, who was I to judge? My home life had been a wreck, two empty husks shuffling past each other day in and day out solely because it was routine. I didn’t have much confidence in my ability to speak to her.

Missy broke the silence for me with a dark mutter, “I should’ve ended her.”

Wow. Okay, not exactly what I was expecting. Homicidal preteen is...actually kind of within my area of expertise since it’s really not that far removed from homicidal high-schooler. Still, I tentatively felt out her attitude as I spoke slowly, “Maybe. But then you’d regret having someone’s blood on your hands.”

Missy folded her arms, trying to take up more space than she filled. “She deserved it. She hurt so many people. She hurt our friends.”

I grimaced. I remembered how Dean had gone out of his way when I had just joined to include me. “Probably. But you caught her, and when Dean wakes up I’m sure he’ll be proud.”

Missy turned away, though I could hear a sniffle from her end of the couch. I paused, giving her a moment. I thought of my own loss, how I had felt when I lost Emma as a friend and Dad hadn’t been there for me.

I scooted down, slowly wrapping my arms around her to hug her. “Hey. We’re all here for each other. Talk to me.” I didn’t phrase it as an open suggestion like Dad would’ve, the kind of thing easily left unanswered in the space between people.

She sniffled into the crook of my arm for a moment, words coming out intermittently, “I want to be strong...strong so everyone will take me seriously. I can’t...I can’t do this, cry like this, in front of the rest of the team...they’ll think I’m a kid...but just, I’m so...angry and sad and upset and I don’t know after what happened and I can’t go home and-” She cut off into incoherent babbling.

I squeezed gently, nodding into her shoulder. “I take you seriously. You know the city better than anyone else, only you could’ve caught Bakuda like that. Just because you’re sad doesn’t make you a kid. Everyone is sad right now, it’s normal. It’s right.”

Missy pulled into me, I felt my arm damp from her tears. “You...you can’t tell anyone.”

I shook my hea., “Of course. But if you need me, we can always talk privately in my room. I know you’re strong, needing to let things out won’t change that.”

Missy nodded silently into me. After a minute, she broke the embrace, wiping her face. Her eyes red from crying as she desperately tried to hide the evidence of it. I searched for something to make her feel better, seeing her upset bit at a part of me, reminding me of how I had felt and had no one to comfort me. I would be better.

“What about those Earth Aleph things? Anime? You mentioned wanting to show me some, maybe we could do that sometime?”

Missy looked up in surprise, a small smile as she giggled tiredly. “Yeah. I’d love to.”

I nodded with a smile back, looking more certain in my social skills than I felt. “Awesome.”

\---

I had woken up early, restless and unable to sleep well despite a pervading sense of exhaustion. So it was at seven thirty in the morning I found myself working at the far end of the Boardwalk. The early May air had a pleasant coolness to it; it would’ve been a chill if I hadn't been actively moving and exercising my muscles.

I worked for a good half hour, sifting through rubble, moving large pieces into the giant metal waste containers that would be hauled off by trucks to the dumps. Moving the small bits by corralling them with tendrils of blood, practically polishing what was left of the floor since I could scrub without leaving bloody residue if I was careful.

The relief crews were already out as well, not nearly as close to the full force that filled the bulk of the afternoons and burgeoned in the evenings after the oppressive sun had weakened, but still active and diligent. The extra budget for relief from the PRT and the local government cooperating would pay for this much at least, though I doubted it would go as far as it needed to.

No, I figured at best we’d get a few more weeks of coordinated relief before the news cycle left us and the budget trickled to a slow. It would get the richer areas well on their way to recovery and leave the poor areas, aka most of the city, to fester. I growled inside my own head at the thought, chucking a particularly heavy piece of concrete and rebar into the container with a loud clang that reverberated through the area.

I looked over in surprise when a familiar rust-red costume caught my attention. The morning sun still low as Aegis descended and immediately started helping with debris removal. He glanced my way, giving me a nod which I returned, and went to work. We worked side by side for hours, wordlessly. Occasionally there’d come a particularly large piece of rubble which demanded our combined efforts. We’d coordinate with the barest of grunts and nods, heaving the pieces out of the way or having one hold something up while the other worked.

Sweat ran down the back of my neck and my arms, the outfit was disgustingly skimpy but it did help keep me cool since a light breeze blew from the ocean at almost all times. Thankfully the Brute rating it gave seemed to also protect me from sunburn, as a particularly astute construction worker noted the previous day. He had been discouraged from making further notes on my skin when he _accidentally_ got covered in blood.

The sun rose to its zenith in the sky, bearing down with oppressive rays that made it swelter. It wasn’t nearly as hot as it would be in summer, but it still made me work up a sweat. It seemed to help though, the other workers noticed that I would sweat and tire like themselves and were more comfortable around me. They offered portions of food or sips of water and I made sure to share in return. I didn’t want to be seen as anything except respectable, I had a reputation to build.

Well, to adjust. The fight with Lung had built up my reputation a fair bit, since I had been very visibly in combat with him for days to those in the areas that moved at normal time. It was theorized that Bakuda’s bomb hadn’t quite worked as intended. It might’ve been intended to separate the entire city in a bubble of altered time to allow them to take the city over without fear of reinforcements from other cities. Bakuda was adamantly refusing to talk, though the severe concussion may have played into it.

A few hours past midday saw me sitting on a fragment of a raised floor, taking a moment out of the sun to grab a drink. Aegis sat down with a heavy thunk next to me, his rust-red costume covered in the ochre shades of dirt and dust. I held my water bottle out to him. He took it after a moment, gulping down a bit before handing it back.

Wiping his mouth. “Thanks.”

I gave him a small nod as I took another sip. “Yeah, no problem Aegis.”

I paused, thinking over my word choice for the moment. The moment felt fragile and I didn’t want to break it, “I don’t usually see you out here as early as this morning.” It was unusual; Aegis had typically been working around the PRT building and more during hours acceptable for a high-schooler.

The Ward hung his head as he spoke, “Well, I realized I wasn’t really living up to my name.”

I raised a brow at him, silently questioning for more. He glanced sideways and sighed. “I’m supposed to protect people, but I kinda messed up.” He paused, “When the bombs went off I was so worried about bailing out my neighborhood that I wasn’t there to help you or Armsmaster. Vista and Clockblocker captured Bakuda while I was being a glorified shovel.”

He grumbled. “As team leader I’m supposed to be the one taking risks. It’s my job to protect you guys and I did the least out of everyone. Even Kid Win clears debris faster than I do now with his new gadget. I thought maybe if I came out early and stayed late I could actually make a difference.” He ended with a long shrug of his shoulders.

Aegis sat, hunched over himself. I looked at him, it was hard to reconcile the charismatic, if a bit generic, team leader I had met weeks ago with the Ward in front of me. Struggling to find his own sense of relevance and feeling a distinct failure in his duties. Much like the rest of the team, I thought. Vista was angry about what happened to Dean and felt unsatisfied still. Clockblocker seemed to have a chip on his shoulder about his performance capturing Bakuda. Aegis felt he had failed to protect his team. I had gotten Dauntless killed; I had certainly failed more than any of them.

I spoke slowly, carefully feeling the words as they came out, “You couldn’t have known. Besides, I was closer to Armsmaster anyway. They still would’ve sent me if you hadn’t been busy.”

Aegis looked out at the wall in front of us. “Your durability is relatively untested compared to mine though. It was dangerous to put you out there doing what I should’ve done.”

I shook my head. “We’re heroes Aegis. We have to do dangerous things.”

Aegis grumbled in response.

I sighed, gesturing to the disaster efforts down the Boardwalk. “Why do you think I come out so early? Same as you. I fucked up. I fucked up hard. I’m trying to do something I can actually feel good about.”

Aegis turned towards me, incredulous. “You held off Lung.”

I grimaced. “I got Dauntless killed.”

Aegis shook his head. “That wasn’t your fault! Lung killed him. He would’ve been fighting even if you hadn’t been there.”

I leaned back, looking up. “True, but he would’ve been coordinating with Armsmaster. He rushed in to save me because Lung had me down. If I had been better…” I gave a shrug.

Aegis frowned, a conflicted look on his face. “You can’t know that. It’s unrealistic to push yourself to be perfect.”

I shook my head, standing up from my seat. “And you don’t do the same? I know what happened. That’s why I have to be better. Anyway, we should get back to work.” I used a tendril of blood to propel the empty plastic bottle into one of the trash containers across the street. I headed back to work, there was still a good half day of light left.

\---

I knocked on the outside of Chris’ workshop door. A minute went by without a response, even though I knew he was inside at the moment. I knocked again, louder this time and more insistently. Shortly the door opened, Chris looking out with sleepless eyes.

“Oh, hey Ichor. Didya need something?”

I gestured to the inside, Chris moved back from the door to let me in and the door shut behind me before I spoke, “Do you have time to make something for me?”

Chris glanced at the half-constructed mess on his workbench. He seemed to be halfway into assembling a larger version of his laser pistol, though that was my best guess. Honestly with Tinkers it could be just about anything in any given shape if they were creative enough. Or Armsmaster with his damn swiss army-knife technology.

He scratched his head uncertainly, “Uh, maybe? Depends what it is I guess.”

I nodded. “I wanted something like a drone, or several maybe, with your lasers. And a learning program or something like what Armsmaster uses.”

He half-lit up at the idea, the Tinker in him fighting back the exhaustion as it explored the idea. “Hmm, that could be doable. I have some failed projects I could grab parts from definitely...What’s it for?”

I gestured to myself. “I want to have them learn how I fight so I can train against them. I’m too predictable. If I have to focus on multiple targets that can adapt to me, it’ll help me fight better.”

Chris bobbed his head along as I spoke, interjecting, “Oh! I could make some for myself. If I make them small enough I can deploy them in combat from my hoverboard and then we’d have a bunch of tiny helpers that’d be hard to hit.”

I smiled a bit, it was a thought I had already had, but I was glad Chris had came up with the same idea. “Yeah, that’d be great. I can use the prototypes to train and you can use the data from that to make the ones you use even better. Plus they’d have some fighting data already.”

Chris had shifted from half-lit to fully energized as he started to scrounge through piles of equipment. “That’d be perfect Taylor.”

He looked back to me, a guilty look on his face. He had that overcast look flash back for a moment. ”I was kinda at a loss for what to do after I finished the excavator, ya know?”

I gave him a bit of a nod. “Definitely. It’s good to have a goal.” I didn’t want to elaborate too much, but it felt good to help him. He cheered up so much when he had a project he thought would work.

Chris gave an awkward smile, trying to look casual and failing hard. “Hey, if you come up with any more ideas lemme know. I’ll get to work on this and let ya know when it’s ready, kay?”

I smiled back lightly and gave him a thumbs-up. “Perfect. I’ll see about a few other ideas I was mulling around. Thanks Chris, just let me know if you need anything.”

Chris waved above his head, his skull already buried in a pile of gear that he was searching through for what he needed. I left his workshop, closing the door behind me. He would be up for the rest of the night I suspected now that he had new inspiration. He was already forgoing sleep trying to tinker new useful things for the relief efforts. I was halfway down the hall when I had an idea.

A few minutes later, I had a huge mug of coffee with a bit of sugar and milk in it. Knocking on Chris’ door loudly, it slid open almost immediately. Chris looked distracted, obviously in the middle of something. I held out the mug and his hands reached out like that Gollum creature from those Earth Aleph movies as he took it carefully from me. A sense of pure appreciation was conveyed in that silent exchange as he turned back to his work, gently cradling the coffee. I let the door close again and headed off. It was late and I was tired, but I wouldn’t get better at fighting by lifting rubble. It was off to the training room that was pretty much undisturbed by the explosions.

The sub-levels with the power testing rooms and target ranges were deserted. Every available hand was busy helping in some way or recovering so that they could, no one had the luxury of time to hone skills. Especially at midnight. Technically I didn’t either. I was exhausted from working all day and the days before, but it was the only time I could find for it.

I stepped into the target range, designed for high accuracy practice on moving targets at varying distances. Essentially for agents who were the best of the best or Blasters interested in improving their aim. I fell into the latter. I relied too heavily on my tinkertech suit for protection and strength, I needed to hone my own powers. So I was here without my suit, just myself.

A flick of a small blade and blood welled on the top of my hand, threading out of the cut and curling in wisps around me in the air. I began my practice, hitting targets as rapidly as I could and as many as I could track at the same time. It was frustrating, I often underestimated how long travel time took for my projectiles or overestimated how many targets I could follow at once. I found if I got a bit of blood on them it was much easier to keep track as I could extend my tracking into my power rather than just my own vision.

I never ran out of range in the room, so I quickly learned to recycle my projectiles and tendrils, having missed shots wrap around from behind to hit a different target. I worked on multi-directional attacks and blocking while I fired. The room could provide soft-simulated fire, which I used to practice juggling my offense and defense.

Never again would I be at the mercy of my suit’s whims when I could stand effectively without it.

\---

Another day, another dollar. Except I didn’t get a dollar. I got a shovel. And broken concrete. And the slow sense that I was actually making progress since I was at the far end of the Boardwalk now whereas I had started in the middle. The far end was the less glamorous part where the cheaper shops were situated, unable to afford the prices for premium spots in the middle thoroughfare.

It was good to be approaching the end though. Another day and I would be able to claim I had done all I could here and get shifted to an area where people actually needed me. Here I was simply speeding up the inevitable relief rather than progressing it somewhere it wouldn’t happen without me. I essentially replaced several burly men and a large machine with my ability to move heavy objects and work quickly.

A few hours of morning work turned out to be pleasantly full of progress. Midway through the morning I noticed a costumed figure approach. Short in stature, she wore a large billowy dress and had on a white porcelain mask that made her look doll-like. Parian, the rogue. I recalled that her shop was up at this end of the Boardwalk, so it made sense I’d see her. She stopped a few dozen feet down the block in front of a shop that was clearly totalled, part of it had been turned to glass, which then had not had the strength to support the rest of it, resulting in a rather dangerous clean-up zone.

I put my work on pause and headed down the Boardwalk towards her. While I was essentially a faster, cheaper version of a cleaning crew for many of these buildings, I realized I could uniquely help her. My toughness would let me work amongst the glass safely, something that would take a lot of time and effort otherwise. Parian stilled as I approached, the mask tracking me as I did. I extended a hand to wave and she seemed to shrink back initially at the movement.

“Hey. Parian, right? I’m Ichor, with the Wards. You need help cleaning up your shop?”

The figure waited, it was hard to get a read on her under the hefty, all-covering costume. “I can handle it if you’re busy with the others…” Her head shifted slightly, looking past me to where I had been.

I shook my head. “No, they’ll be fine. They don’t need me there, I just make it faster. This-” I gestured to the shattered glass walls, “-I think I can help with. If you want it.”

Parian seemed to take her time with responding, though her voice from behind the mask was shaky and unsure, “If it’s okay. I don’t want to distract you.”

I put my hands up placatingly. “Not at all. I’d have gotten down here eventually anyway. Since you’re here it makes more sense for me to do it now. We can work together. You’ve got, like, telekinesis with fabric, right?”

She nodded stiffly. “Yeah. Most of what’s left is still stuck in the shop…”

I looked inside, I couldn’t see past the disaster zone of an entrance. Maybe there was still usable cloth in the back end of the shop. That would be where the bulk of material was stored, since the front was where the mannequins and finished products were displayed. I glanced at the mannequins, feeling vaguely uneasy as they watched me. I stepped forward slowly, glass crunching under my heels as I did.

Parian stuttered out, “W-where are you going?”

I looked back. “You need cloth to work, right? I’ll go grab some from the back. That way you’re not stuck just watching.”

She nodded stiltedly and I turned back, making my way inside. The front quarter or third had been glassified, the sudden shift in material had gone catastrophically wrong. Part of the wall had collapsed inward and the ceiling had suddenly been compromised. Large and small shards of glass had been thrown everywhere in the resulting crumbling of the front, making it a hazard for anyone without a fairly good Brute rating to get in. The bright side was I doubt looters would even consider the shop on their worst night.

I pushed deeper inside, the darkness of the unlit interior making it slow going. I wanted to avoid shifting anything too much, unsure of what was propping up what was left of the building. Mannequins lay on the floor, glass embedded in them, the high fashion outfits they had worn shredded beyond repair. As I made my way further in, the going became less treacherous, though also less lit.

I made my way through a door into the back of the shop, where huge rolls of cloth stood propped against the walls and a workbench sat in the darknesses, tools strewn about. The workshop, though almost untouched by the explosions, still felt messy and chaotic. Perhaps Parian had been really busy before the attack and rushing to meet deadlines? It didn’t feel quite right.

Nonetheless, I grabbed two of the large rolls of cloth, one under each arm, and worked them through the doorway. Slowly I made my way back to the entrance, trying to avoid tearing them too much on the blades of glass that stuck out from every angle. The forlorn mannequins still stared out emptily, creeping me out a little. As I carefully made my way out, I laid the two rolls down on the ground outside. Parian got up from where she had waited and approached.

Fretting over the rolls for a moment, needles drifted out from the inner pockets of her costume and she started working. I left her to it, she seemed nervous and I had always found it best to work that kind of thing out by doing something. I started to clear the glass, using waves of blood to push together the smaller shards and handling the bigger pieces myself. It was slow going, I was tough enough that they wouldn’t cut me unless I put some force into it, but I also didn’t want to just break the glass into smaller pieces and make more work for myself and Parian.

After a bit I was startled when a large animated bear waddled over next to me, helping to collect the larger pieces of glass. It was a bit surreal seeing Parian’s power at work, it seemed something that fit more in a cartoon than cleaning up a bombed out building. More animals joined as time went on, some rotating back for repairs when they got cut up too much or worn down. Our progress was steady and satisfying, we cleared most of the large glass before midday and by evening it was safe enough for normal crews to get into. By nightfall it was as good as it would get without having the wall repaired and replaced.

I leaned over, hands on my knees and I caught my breath once we finished. Parian’s octopus was sweeping the floor with a broom in each tentacle. I looked over to her and flashed a small smile. A tentative thumbs-up came back from her.

I stood up, stretching out my sore muscles. “Well, we made a lot of progress. Do you want me to put anything big in the entrance so people can’t get in at night?”

She shook her head, the demure voice answering, “No, I can handle it. Uhm, would you like something to drink? I think I still have tea and coffee in the back?”

I looked towards the back of the shop. “Is there power to boil water?”

She nodded. “Yes, they restored power down this end yesterday.”

I gave her a smile and gestured towards the back with a hand. “Then I’d love some tea. Thanks.”

She scurried in front of me, taking the lead. Not as nervous as she had been when we had started, but she still felt like a mouse surrounded by cats. I felt bad for her, she clearly had as much trouble with people in the past as I did to be that nervous. I knew how that felt. Probably being a rogue cape had been difficult, the E88 or Merchants had likely pressed her to join them under increasingly worse threats.

I sat down as she prepared tea, the kettle filled with water and heating. Parian took out some cups as she sorted through her tea, looking for something. Once everything was settled and I had tea in hand, things relaxed a bit. The rogue sat across from me, sipping her tea while very carefully balancing it under her mask. One of the many reasons why full face masks were a challenging choice.

She spoke, “Thank you for helping...I wasn’t sure how long it would take by myself and you were a huge help.”

I shrugged. “Of course. Besides, you needed me more than the place that sells Cape-themed trinkets.”

She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. “Once everything’s set up, maybe I could make you a costume or something? As thanks.”

I looked down at my costume with uncertainty. “Thanks, but I’m not sure you can. It’s a special tinkertech cloth. I don’t know if your power would work with it.”

She tilted her head, looking at my costume. “I think so? It’s just telekinesis. I can try, but I understand if you don’t want any changes…”

I considered her offer. Moreover, I thought about the bolts of cloth that had been recovered from my Dad’s workshop. There wasn’t much that had been left, but there had been some pieces of the tinkertech cloth my suit was made of, not yet made into a garment. While I was uncertain of her ability to alter a semi-alive outfit, the possibility of her being able to make something using the remainder of the fabric was enticing.

A dozen possible projects sprang to mind and I almost laughed. Perhaps this was what Tinkers felt like? I couldn’t let anyone know, if Armsmaster heard he’d probably try to stick a Tinker 0 rating onto me like he tried with practically every new Ward. That man just really wanted to meet more Tinkers I think.

I looked over the lip of my tea cup to Parian, sipping slowly before I answered.

“I have a few ideas I’d like to discuss with you…”


	9. Interlude 3: Vista

### Interlude 3: Vista

Vista watched as Taylor walked into the room. Her fellow Ward waved to her in a curt motion as she headed for the other end where her room was. Vista bit her lip, anxiety bubbling up inside of her. She wanted to ask Taylor if she was interested in watching some shows with her. Taylor had expressed some interest and even her disinterest was mostly just good-humored ribbing. At least Vista hoped it was.

But the problem was that Taylor was always so serious. Vista understood, she really did. She tried to be serious all the time too. That way the rest of the team would take her seriously and not treat her like a kid, even when she had more successful captures than the rest of the team combined. But she wasn’t serious like Taylor was serious. She always walked with purpose, like she was in a hurry to be somewhere and do something.

She was polite, friendly even, to Missy. But there was a distance between Taylor and everyone else. They all liked her, but she was intimidating. She worked sunrise to sunset and then she would go workout and train. Everyone knew she wasn’t sleeping enough, but no one wanted to confront her about it. The dark circles under her eyes hadn’t gone unnoticed. They had only grown larger. She kept the mask on more frequently too, spending more time as Ichor.

So Missy had thought to have a night of watching things together and chilling out. It would help Taylor relax a little. And it distracted her from her own worries. She had spent a lot of time cooped up in her room alone after the attacks and she missed hanging out with her friends. Her school friends wouldn’t understand without context and the rest of the Wards weren’t exactly being helpful.

Dennis was always making biting remarks, not so much funny as just dickish. He had always been a bit dickish, but it had been tempered by his humor and willingness to admit fault. Now he was just mean. Carlos had taken Taylor’s example and started to work all day, quiet and reserved. He was as unapproachable as she was lately. Chris had sequestered himself in his workshop, frazzled and full of desperate energy. She wasn’t good around him when he was like that, it annoyed her, she would snap at him, he’d be upset and sad, and both of them would be worse off. Browbeat was just plain gone. He had requested the time to be with his family and primarily was helping out around their neighborhood apparently. He had never integrated into the team that well, always being a space cadet in the corner.

So that left Taylor. Taylor who had expressed interest in what she liked. Taylor who hadn’t judged her by it, asking if it wasn’t a bit too childish for her. Magical girl shows were cool. It was hard enough for her to find shows that had female protagonists and she could empathize. Often they were young teenagers that had the weight of responsibility thrust onto them via strange powers and had to make the best of it. Dealing with unsympathetic adults, unable to tell their unpowered friends, and trying to grow up fast enough to handle new and constant threats.

It was a lot like how she felt her life was, except without the costume change sequence and flashy attacks. No, but Taylor. Taylor. She got a costume change sequence! She hadn’t even heard of anime before! It was unfair, so unfair! She sparkled when she transformed, bright white stars flashing in and out as her costume warped and re-shaped itself. She was practically the epitome of magical girl and it was patently unacceptable that she had literally never seen any of the shows.

So Missy Biron had a mission. She watched as Taylor disappeared into her room, her routine was to change out of her costume and go train. Missy had spent several days performing surveillance until she was confident she had developed a proper mission ops for the task. She would casually intercept Taylor as she exited her room to go to the training rooms by crossing the room at the same time. In doing so, she would strike up conversation and carefully lead into the proposal.

Taylor would be trapped by social niceties, which the girl didn’t always respect but probably would for Missy, and the operation would be near completion. The only risk was her trying to worm out of it or give a noncommittal answer. So Missy would push for it to be tonight, after Taylor finished her workout. It would be late, but Missy had already ruined her sleep schedule staying up late binging on a new import from Earth Aleph called Attack on Titan and ice cream.

It hadn’t cheered her up. Fuck Tom and his suggestions. She was going to warp his shit at school so much for that. It was technically a felony to harass a civilian with parahuman powers but who could prove that their pencil kept imperceptibly changing in length as they tried to write, huh? No one, that’s who.

Except Armsmaster probably. But even he couldn’t help Dean.

Damn it. She sniffled a bit, quickly turning her face reflexively lest anyone see her do so. It was at that moment Taylor emerged from her room and Missy got up, making her planned movement. She moved slowly, hiding that she favored one leg. No one knew that she had taken that fall when she hit Bakuda worse than she portrayed. It would heal and it reminded her of how much she hated Bakuda, that was good.

She ‘accidentally’ crossed paths with Taylor, giving a chagrined smile and spoke up, “Oh! Sorry Taylor.”

Taylor looked unflappable, simply shifting to move around Missy. “No worries.”

She had to commit, the window was rapidly closing. “Heyyyyy, going out again?”

_Smooth Missy. Immaculate._

Taylor shook her head. “Nah, it’s too dark. Just going to the shooting range.”

Missy slowly nodded her head. “Oh. Ok. Didya want to hang out sometime? I was going to chill and watch some shows tonight if you want to join…”

Taylor paused in her effort to circumnavigate Missy’s body-block of the exit. “Uhm, I was going to go train for a few hours.”

Missy put on her best smile, it trembled a bit at the edges. “Maybe after?”

Taylor tilted her head and after a moment, nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”

\---

Taylor had said a few hours, but the elevator buzzed back up to the floor after only an hour. Missy got up, scurrying around trying to figure out what she needed to do, only to realize she didn’t really need to do anything. She calmed herself, sitting back down before her thirty seconds were up and pretending she was completely chill. She had to keep up appearances, she couldn't have her reputation for being mature dive for when Dean was back after all.

The elevator opened and Taylor walked out. Small orbs of blood orbited around her. She often had an unconscious blood aura, as Dennis called it, around her. She tended to forget to completely disperse it after she used her power, so she’d have small clusters of blood orbit around her or a slightly red haze in her presence. That and the fact that she always smelled like fresh blood didn’t really help with the whole intimidating thing.

Still, Taylor smiled weakly to Missy and raised a hand in greeting. “Hey. I was worried you’d fallen asleep.”

She shook her head, bouncing up. “Nope. I thought you had to practice for a few hours?”

Taylor hesitated, shrugging. “I got tired of it.” It was a lie, unconvincing, but it didn’t matter.

“So. Ready to be inducted into the ways of being a magical girl?” Missy felt a grin spread on her face. She hadn’t felt this chipper since…

Taylor blanched. “Uh...I don’t have to do anything weird, right?”

Missy shook her head with a snort. “No, you just have to watch some shows with me. We can try out different ones until we find one you like. But you cannot go around doing magical costume changes without knowing your heritage!”

Taylor looked bemused. “My herit-but I’m not Japanese…”

Missy put her foot down. “That doesn’t matter! It’s not like we’re gonna go ask Oni Lee for his blessings.”

Taylor rolled her eyes but chuckled. “Okay, fine. What are we watching?”

Leading Taylor over to the big TV in the center of the room, Missy had her laptop hooked up to it and ready to go. “I was thinking we’d start with Sailor Moon and then try some Cardcaptor Sakura. You need your classics after all.” She lectured, one finger raised as she made her points.

Taylor plopped onto the couch awkwardly, shrugging. “Sure? You’re the expert here.”

Missy nodded, appeased by the clear deference in authority. As it should be, no one respected her experience clearly enough around here except for Taylor. She pulled up the completely illegal Sailor Moon stream and started it. Who was going to bust her, the feds? She was the feds! The world owed her anyway, she thought in sudden bitterness.

Also anime DVDs were _expensive!_

\---

A few episodes in and things had much improved. Taylor had offered to make popcorn, which Missy was gobbling up happily. They got to share the giant couch in the main room, which was a luxury. The giant screen typically reserved for mission briefings or movie nights was all theirs. It was an unpleasant thought that the only reason this was possible was because everyone was hiding within themselves. Normally she’d at least have to contend with someone making comments as they walked by, or complaints that it was too loud or distracting.

Instead it was a fragile comfortableness. Taylor was cozy and warm to lean against as they each wrapped themselves in blankets. There was tension, yes, but it was muted and forgotten while they laughed at the silly antics in the show. The soft complaints of Taylor about how her powers totally didn’t resemble anything in the show and the smug reassurances of Missy that she totally did.

Taylor broke one of the many lulls in conversation/ “Hey Missy.”

She didn’t look away from the screen, Tuxedo Mask was on. “Yeah?”

Taylor slowly introduced her question, “Do...you happen to know Japanese?”

Missy felt the odd sudden mix of anxiety and eagerness. To reveal the fact that she had picked up far more than was socially acceptable watching subbed anime or to hide and potentially disappoint Taylor? Hedge, hedge, she couldn’t prove a thing. Do not yell baka repeatedly.

“A little. Why?”

Taylor fidgeted under the blanket/ “Lung said something that sounded Japanese. I wanted to know what.”

Missy fidgeted in turn. The topic of Lung was something they had all avoided, since Taylor had been reluctant to talk about it. It hadn’t been easy for them either, they had spent those few days before Armsmaster and Dragon freed her anxious. Wondering if she’d end up like Dean, someone they could still see and visit but never interact with.

“I can try? What did he say?”

Taylor paused, obviously trying to pronounce the word slowly and carefully, “Kam-mooey? It sounded like that.”

Missy scrunched her face up and flipped out her smartphone, utilizing the many resources of the internet to supplement her incredibly patchwork knowledge. This wasn’t a word typically uttered in terse admissions of love or daily high school life and thus fell beyond her core understanding.

Fingers tapping away she spoke as she researched. “Uh...seems like it could mean a few things depending on how it’s spelled? It has to do with gods or divine spirits I think.”

Taylor sat silently, listening as Missy continued her search. “Maybe something to do with Ainu?”

Taylor frowned slightly. “I don’t think Lung’s spiritual. Though apparently Oni Lee liked to visit a shrine. I think he was referring to my costume.”

Missy furrowed her brow, stretching her understanding of the language and desperately wishing she had actually studied Japanese at some point now. It wasn’t super useful given that Japan was half gone and a third world country now, but whatever.

“Well...if he was referring to your costume maybe he meant it like ‘god-robe’? You can write the Kanji for it like that and it would sound like Kamui. What, did he say this during the fight?”

She shook her head. “No, after.”

Missy gave her a skeptical look. “So after you gave him a concussion and split his jaw in half. I’m sure he was reaaaal easy to understand at that point.”

Taylor shrugged. For someone with so much drive she managed to shrug a lot. “Good point. It just bothered me.”

She grinned a bit as an idea came to mind. “Weeeeell Taylor, you dooo need a name for your outfit. You can’t just call it ‘that fucking sailor suit’ forever. And every magical girl has a name for their special weapon or costume or whatever.”

Taylor looked over, dead-tired eyes freezing Missy like a deer in headlights. “I’m not a magical girl.”

The stare abated and Missy found her courage to speak again. Her voice small, “It might help you know. Powers work weird. I know you’ve been having problems with the Kamui” -a small grumble from Taylor- “but maybe that’s because you’re not doing it right? It didn’t come with instructions right?”

Taylor sighed, in the background Sailor Mars did the same. “So what, do I have to say some sort of transformation code?”

Missy pursed her lips, unsure. “Maybe? Just try to keep it in mind? It doesn’t hurt to try.”

Taylor nodded slowly, sinking back into the couch further. “Maybe. Let’s keep going, I want to see what The Dark Kingdom is up to.”

Missy smiled a bit to herself as she settled back into the couch. The tension was still there, but...this was nice. They continued through the first arc until Missy fell asleep on the couch, head resting against Taylor’s shoulder, feeling her head gently stroked as she drifted into her first deep sleep since the news about Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes: I resisted the urge to write three paragraphs on how adorable Missy is at the end. She’s THAT adorable.


	10. Chapter 7: A Loser I Can't Hate

### Chapter 7: A Loser I Can't Hate

I spun in place, dodging the blades of air that Stormtiger had whipped at me. Whips of blood flew back at him, keeping him pinned down. He was forced to pick between attacking me or holding off the blasts of red that hounded him. A steel I-beam from the reconstruction efforts whistled past me, I pushed off it with a kick and flew in the air towards Rune.

A car whipped up into me from the side, sending me flying off course with a grunt. Clever, Rune had touched the car but hadn’t shifted it. By keeping it on the street I hadn’t thought to mentally tag it as a potential projectile. I focused, blasting blood towards the ground to control my descent, landing and dropping straight into a run as broken concrete pelted the area. Blades of air exploded around me, buffeting me from side to side.

I dashed in a serpentine pattern, blood neutralizing most of Stormtiger’s attempts to hit me halfway between us. They were trying to buy time, knowing if they got other capes that they could overwhelm me. While we were even at the moment, having to deal with Fenja and Menja or Hookwolf as well would put me on the defensive.

I was also trying to buy time.

Armsmaster had described me as a macro-hemokinetic, and I hadn’t really considered what that meant until recently. I had an upper limit to how fast my power created blood. The longer a fight went, the more I had to work with. Blood blasts were nice, but they usually wouldn’t cut it for anyone higher than a 3 or 4 rating in a given category, as Stormtiger was nicely demonstrating by countering my attempts to hit either him or Rune.

What I didn’t seem to have was an upper limit on how much blood I could control. It was rarely an issue, since I didn’t often have a chance to fill a swimming pool before a fight, but it was something I could take advantage of. I dove, cupping my hands and rushing forwards between two more I-beams that slammed towards me.

Right on time, Crusader and Hookwolf joined the fray. Ghostly duplicates jabbing their spears at me and Hookwolf revving up into a whirling mass of blades. I ducked and weaved, using a rippling cloak of blood to obscure my movements. A red haze spread about me to lower visibility. I couldn’t actively direct vaporized blood, but I could refuse to collect it together as it aerosolized from Stormtiger’s counter-attacks.

I fingered the trigger palmed in my hand. It wasn’t quite time yet. Clockblocker shot me a concerned look from the alley he, Aegis, and Vista were keeping low in. As a car rattled towards me courtesy of Rune, I gave him a nod and sub-vocalized into my headset.

“Engage.”

The Nazis moved up, thinking me pinned near the back end of the street due to their slow barrage of attacks. Hookwolf rushing forward to engage me in hand-to-hand when suddenly he stopped, frozen in place. Rune shouted, cut off by Aegis tackling her from her perch of concrete in the air. Crusader and Stormtiger spun to the side to face the new threat.

They chose poorly.

I sprinted forward, driving my blood into the legs of the suit to fuel my superspeed and rushed Stormtiger. Blades of air exploded around me as I whipped blood into them, each hit countered and neutralized. A massive red haze surrounded us as Stormtiger slashes his claws made of air in front of him, increasingly desperate to push me back. Crusader had his ghosts surrounding him as Vista separated him from the rest, warping the street around him.

I felt a blade of air slip through and check me in the shoulder, buffeting me back. I stumbled a step and condensed the red haze around us right onto Stormtiger, encasing him in a giant blob of blood. His aerokinesis mostly neutralized, I dove into the blood, forming a path for myself and decked him straight in the eye. He tried to block, but his movements slowed and lagged in the liquid, he never had a chance.

Crusader disappeared in an explosion of foam as he finally had backed up enough under the combined pressure of Aegis and Vista to where I had hidden the containment foam trap. I pulled out a pair of cuffs for Stormtiger and applied them with extreme prejudice. Rune was cuffed up and drooling next to the pile of foam that was previously Crusader. I dumped Stormtiger next to them and went to check on Clockblocker.

Clockblocker was yawning as he stood behind Hookwolf, hand outstretched to tap him again if he unfroze early, which thankfully he hadn’t.

“Mmm about time. I was getting tired of doing all the heavy lifting here.” He chuckled, though it sounded strained.

Suddenly Clockblocker was gone and a sack of bricks was in his place. We heard Dennis shout from somewhere nearby, though it sounded like he was up high. While halfway through that thought I found myself where I had left Stormtiger. Hookwolf had unfrozen and was tackling Aegis while Vista warped nearby cars and objects to provide larger cover.

I dashed forward. Aegis was tough, but Hookwolf would shred him down eventually and he would need my help. Together we could wrangle Hookwolf down potentially. The problem was whatever teleporter was screwing with us. I couldn’t follow through on the original plan if they weren’t taken care of.

Pop. I was where Hookwolf had been. I felt my head stretch back as Aegis’ blow connected with my cheek. Aegis swore violently and was quickly replaced with a newly conscious Rune. A Rune who was right next to a car. Fuck me.

Technically Aegis was team leader, but I had set up the ambush and taken the initiative here. I called through the headset, “Aegis, grab Clock. Vista, pull back. We’re disengaging.”

Clockblocker shouted hoarsely through the comms, “YesAegispleasegrabClock!”

I tuned the comms out as I dodged the now telekinetically controlled car that our mysterious attacker had so graciously placed Rune near. I dived towards Stormtiger and scooped him up into a fireman’s carry. Blasts of blood behind me to distract Rune as I retreated towards Vista, who was already working to stretch the road behind me and shrink it in front of me.

Several blocks later, we were out of E88 territory and together again. I handed Stormtiger off to the PRT truck that was waiting and folded my arms as I looked at my teammates. Aegis and Vista both looked relatively fine, though Clockblocker looked a bit frazzled.

Aegis gave Clockblocker a pat on the shoulder. “You alright man?”

Clockblocker nodded slowly, taking deep breaths behind the mask. “Y-yeah. I think I developed a new fear of heights though. Who was that fucker that was moving us?”

I shook my head with a shrug. “No idea. Didn’t see them. We should debrief back at the base.”

Vista nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I think it was Trickster. We know the Travelers have been taking some of the former ABB areas and he can swap things with his power.”

Aegis grimaced. “What were they doing all the way over here then? And interrupting us too. If they’re trying to grab territory, why would they help a rival gang?”

I started to walk back towards the base, the others following along as I did. It was definitely a concerning turn of events. Our first big offensive against the Empire had fallen a bit flat. We had still gotten Stormtiger with minimal injury, but it was far from the decisive victory I had planned. The fact that the Travellers had gone from a quiet fringe group to acting so boldly was troublesome.

The Merchants had unsuccessfully attempted to spread out after the ABB’s collapse, finding themselves hemmed in by the much more professionally managed territory grab of the Empire. The Undersiders had claimed some of the least useful areas of the city with little contest from the Empire, though they had recently been hitting Hookwolf’s territory rather hard. The Travellers had claimed the heart of the old ABB territory out of nowhere a few days ago, pissing off the Empire in the process.

In addition, rumors of the Teeth eyeing the city for their return was making everything awfully chaotic. Lung’s arrest had only lead to increased violence. The police were overworked trying to protect reconstruction efforts, the Dockworker’s Union too weak without Dad’s voice to fight for jobs, and the Protectorate outnumbered by the Empire at every turn. The non-gang member blue collar workers were getting increasingly agitated as they saw jobs fall routinely to the gangs, poached via corruption.

Vista chimed into the conversation, “Maybe they thought it’d an opportunity to grab them for themselves? We already had Rune and Stormtiger cuffed, it would be pretty easy with Trickster’s power to grab them and get away.”

Aegis mulled it over. “Hmm, it’s possible. I don’t like where that might lead though. The last thing we need is an all out gang fight due to the Travellers kidnapping capes.”

Clockblocker shrugged. “Maybe they just wanted to fuck with us. You know, piss on the Wards like everyone else does.”

Aegis shot a frown at Clockblocker. “I don’t think the gangs are specifically trying to humiliate us. We just got unlucky.”

Clockblocker gave a defeated snort and Vista sighed heavily. I stepped in, seeing the tension building again. “Even if today didn’t go as planned, we still caught Stormtiger. That’s one less for next time. They’ll run out of capes eventually.”

Vista nodded, moving up a step to flank me and follow at my shoulder. “It’s true. If we can keep this up we can still weaken the E88 enough for the Protectorate to go in full force.”

Aegis smiled, taking position up on the other side. “That’s the attitude. We’ll get ‘em yet.”

Clockblocker snorted from the side. “Then what? More will just move in. We’re gonna get hurt fighting one of them eventually and I dunno about you guys, but trading Kaiser for the Butcher seems like a loss to me.”

We headed back in silence, with Clockblocker a few feet separate from the group.

\---

I picked the tea cup up from the saucer and took a sip. It was excellent as always, Parian was a master of both cloth and tea. I was half tempted to corral her into the Protectorate just so she’d be around to make tea more often, but that’d be a rude way of repaying her more than generous cooperation.

“Is the tea alright?” She asked, for the second time.

I smiled back, measured and small. “Of course. I just wanted to check in, see if you needed anything.”

She sat down across from me after a moment of cleaning up and putting a cozy over the kettle. She started with a slight frown. “If you had more cloth, I could afford to experiment more. As is, I’m sorry, but it’s just slow going with so little room for error.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “No, I understand. You’re the expert here.”

She shrunk at the comment. I grimaced internally at my choice of words. I guess she was as insecure as I was in some ways, compliments usually went worse than insults with that kind of insecurity. I didn’t know who had hurt her, but if they lived in Brockton Bay I could afford to throw a car through their window at some point.

I cleared my throat. “So, any updates?” I tried to keep the more polite and calm tone I had taken to recently. It wouldn’t do for people to see how much of what I was doing was guesswork and nervousness. I tried not to think about how much they probably knew that it was anyway.

Parian brought over some stylized bodysuits. Two, each had a vaguely uniform-like aspect to their design. “Tentatively the first two are ready, but I’d really like more time to finish the second...In the end the best I could do was 30%. I don’t feel comfortable working with a higher percentage.”

I sipped my tea, thinking. “That’s fine, I won’t push your limits. We didn’t have enough to go much higher anyway. Once we test each of the aspects out, we can work on the next step.”

Parian nodded, sitting quietly across from me. She always had a nervous disposition to her that made her look distinctly uncomfortable around others, even me. I had tried to be careful in how I spoke, but I suspected we’d never be directly even. I was her patron and with the bombings she would be desperate for money. Naturally she’d be wary of upsetting me and it was just impossible to have an equal relationship with that kind of concern hanging over her. The feeling made me uneasy, memories of Blackwell flashed by momentarily.

I sighed slowly. “I appreciate the hard work you’re putting in. If you need anything or if any of the gangs give you trouble, just call, okay? Otherwise I’ll see you same time next week alright?” I had given her the number for a burner phone. I didn’t want the PRT to be overly aware of my exact plans, as the prying eyes would delay things.

Parian gave a stiff nod as I got up and showed myself to the door. I walked towards the shop exit, dropping the domino mask into my pocket. I gave a look at one of the mannequins, it’s hat sat askew and looked ready to fall. I corrected it, sliding the hat back up and headed out. I was in my civilian clothes so I spent some time mingling on the Boardwalk. I didn’t particularly like the thin crowd, it hadn’t re-thickened yet from the bombings, but it would help my cover.

I spent a good half hour searching through clothes racks with no intent on purchasing anything, simply wandering across from one store to another. Once my thirty minutes were up, I headed off and left the Boardwalk. Right as I was leaving I spotted a familiar mop of red hair heading for the Boardwalk.

Dennis had been in bad spirits ever since the bombings, which was understandable. None of us had been happy really. Dennis though had only gotten more bitter as time passed. He didn’t hang out with the rest of the Wards anymore, his jokes often had undercurrents of anger. I knew how it felt to be separated, to feel angry and like a situation was hopeless.

I steeled myself for social interaction and stepped into his path, flagging him down, “Dennis!”

The curly red hair bobbed up in surprise, downcast eyes looking up at me in surprise. “Oh, uh, hey Taylor. What are you doing out here?”

I shrugged. “Nothing much really. I’m kinda hungry, I was thinking of hitting up a cafe. Want to join me?”

Dennis took a moment to think, his hesitation clear. I added on after a second. “I’ll pay, it’s my treat.”

He immediately protested, “What? No, I can’t-”

I shushed him, interrupting. “You had a bad day yesterday because of me. Let me grab you lunch, okay? Piggot’s paying for it anyway in a roundabout way.”

Dennis shrugged and gave an awkward chuckle. “Sure then I guess. Who am I to say no to free food after all?”

I gave him a smile. “Exactly. C’mon.”

We headed slightly for the Boardwalk where the food was just as good but about 120% cheaper due to being a few streets over. Seriously, I know business took a hit from the bombings but six bucks for coffee is ridiculous. If I was paying, I was choosing where we ate, and that meant some sushi. Asian food was a lot safer with the ABB in ruins and I wanted to enjoy some.

We walked in, getting seated pretty quickly near one of the windows. Dennis blanched as he looked through the menu.

“Does this place serve anything that isn’t sushi?”

I looked up at him from my menu. “Considering the shop is called Aoki Sushi, I think it's unlikely.”

Dennis grumbled before he flipped the page, discovering there was in fact plenty of rice and noodle based dishes. He looked through with significantly less grumbling at that point. I personally went for one of the lunch deals that let me have a few different types of sushi. The variety was nice for my palette and the protein was good for my training. I assumed as much, I didn’t know more than ‘eat protein, get muscle’ but it seemed to be slowly working out.

The waiter came, taking our order and I looked at Dennis.

“Look, it’s going to sound rude, but I’m not a Thinker and I don’t know a better way to say this. You need to stop beating yourself up.”

Dennis looked up, venom dripping from his words, “What’s it matter when we can just get blown up at any moment?”

I double-checked, no one was paying attention to us over the din of a busy lunch rush. “If it doesn’t matter, what’s it hurt to be happy? I miss the Dennis that made terrible jokes and gave the PR department a weekly aneurysm.”

He winced at that, avoiding my eyes. “It was easier when things didn’t feel like they could come crashing down any second.”

I thinned my lips as I tried to figure out what was going on in his head. Was it just feelings of insecurity and anxiety? We all had those after the bombings, but he was taking it worse than the others. So what was bugging him so much then?

“It’s our job. That’s not that new. What’s really bothering you about it?”

Dennis looked hurt almost as I prodded. “It’s just...it hit a lot closer to home that time. Vista took down Bakuda while I broke my leg. I watched her almost get shot because I was stuck on the ground...and then you. I’m supposed to control time, but shit Taylor.”

He went into a hissed whisper, “When we saw you, you were having your arm snapped by Lung and it lasted hours. I’m okay with my power having limits but seeing you guys like that, it just hit me somewhere deep. And I don’t know how to handle seeing you guys in the field again now. Like I’ll freak out anytime you’re in danger, but for us that’s. Every. Single. Day.”

I leaned back in my seat in surprise. He was grating at us because he was worried about losing us? He didn’t know how to handle it because his usual humor failed him so he had fallen back on biting remarks. His inability to figure out what was bothering him just lead to feeling like it was pointless.

What could I do to convince him otherwise?

I spoke with confidence, settling on a plan, “You’re right. Every day is a risk for us. But you’re not right about everything. Just because there’s risks, doesn’t mean that things can’t get better. And it doesn’t mean we’ll ever get hurt. Look at heroes like Chevalier, they’ve been around since the first Wards team. Who’s to say we can’t do the same?”

Dennis gave me an eye full of skepticism. “Statistics.” He remarked dryly.

I gave him a knowing look in return. “There’s that sense of humor. And we all know Brockton Bay fucks up every statistic there is. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but we can do it. Look at our team’s ratings, if we were eighteen we could handle our own city.”

Dennis’ eyes darted to the sides, still full of nervous energy. “I just don’t want to lose you guys.”

“Everyone loses each other at some point. I learned that when I lost my Mom and my Dad. What I regret isn’t losing them, it’s not telling them things before I did.” I finished. It hurt to say, remembering them, but it was what I needed to say. I regretted never telling Dad what was happening at school. I don’t know if he would’ve helped or if it would’ve driven us further apart, but we had never had that chance. That lost chance to reconnect dug at me.

Dennis dry-swallowed hard,.“Regret, huh? Well, uh, in that case you want to see a movie after this?”

It was my turn to blanch as I felt my blood rush from my face. No, literally, I can feel my blood at all times and it did in fact leave me looking pale. My power informed me it would return with revengance in the form of a blush and I used my power to discreetly calm it.

I composed myself, trying to remember how people not panicking spoke. “Sure. But only if you start telling stupid puns to Missy again. It’s just weird otherwise.”

Dennis had a look of relief wash over him and a silly grin formed on his face, something I hadn’t realized had been missing since the attacks. It looked good back on him. “Great! Well I suppose she deserves a re-Ward, am I right?”

I groaned. “Okay I didn’t mean the stupid part literally.”

He only grinned wider and I buried my face in my hands. _What have I done._

\---

The movie was...nice. It hadn’t really gone anywhere romantic, Dennis had kept his distance either out of nervousness, respect, fear, or a healthy mix of all of the above. We had shared some popcorn, shared some laughs, and then gone our separate ways.

But it was _good._ I wasn’t sure if I felt anything for Dennis, well I certainly didn’t right now, but it was just nice being able to have someone to relax with a little bit. And seeing Dennis laughing and making stupid jokes again lifted a weight I didn’t realize I had been carrying. I had missed his goofy attitude and I think the rest of the Wards had as well. Where would we be without our comedic relief?

I spent the rest of the day helping with the reconstruction efforts in the Docks. It was riskier territory, but I was in high spirits and I wouldn’t let the gangs force me back. I got a few stink-eyes from the non-powered members, but they kept clear of me and didn’t cause trouble. I carried heavy materials back and forth, doing what normal men couldn’t and what machines would’ve been awkward to bring in for. By now most of the bodies had been recovered, so it was less clean up and more rebuild.

It wasn’t glamorous, but it did speed construction up a fair bit. It also helped cheer people up. It was one thing to see regular old construction workers, it was another to see the heroes of your city out on the streets helping rebuild them. It helped people connect to us and remember that we were here to help them. I didn’t believe much in PR, I thought it got in the way of being effective far too often, but I saw the use of it here. I was both effective and helping our image, which was essentially the dream combo for the PRT.

I didn’t have quite the online reputation or following that Missy and her crowbar had achieved, but a steady stream of thanks and messages let me know that people had taken notice of me. I was getting a steady reputation as being helpful and selfless due to my working long hours on mundane jobs. Of course there were always some detractors, either due to my outfit or due to a perceived waste of tax dollars but really. Are you going to underfund the only organization that can fight the giant monsters that destroy cities for fun? I can’t really imagine a better use of tax dollars, since pretty much everything comes second to giant-civilization-destroying Endbringers.

I shuddered a bit. I had never faced one, I had barely even seen what they looked like in images. The images were rare due to the usual casualty rates from being close enough to take them and the certain unpopularity of anything Endbringer related. I couldn’t blame people, they were scary. I had gotten the full briefing during my two week ‘training period’ punishment detail.

After the sun set and the last of the workers waved to me, I headed back towards the PRT HQ. It was coming along nicely. Naturally much of the early repair work had occurred here so that the PRT could effectively coordinate the rest of the efforts without fear or the building collapsing. Where once had stood a six story squat grey monolith now stood a six story squat grey monolith. Except this new one had walls that were twice as thick and more reinforced than before, as well as a metric ton of tech designed to no-sell pretty much anything trying to breach the walls.

Usually the budget wouldn’t have been able to accommodate such lavish renovations, but Piggot had been able to argue for the need for them due to the giant gaping hole that had been in the building. With the casualties being as high as they were for the PRT in the bombings, we had been given access to ‘sufficient funding.

Rumor was, we’d even get a few transfers soon if things worked out. The rumors were highly tenuous and nebulous, but the hope was with a few more capes as temporary reinforcements we could lock the city down now that Lung was gone. He had been the biggest obstacle for years and the risk of escalating him had prevented a lot.

Not that it should’ve. The PRT and Protectorate were far too willing to sit back and watch the status quo even when the status quo was shit. I learned that the hard way. No, they lacked the conviction to move forward even when it was tough, which is why I was doing what I had to do. We’d throw the Empire out of Brockton Bay, even if it was costly. I wouldn’t risk my teammates more than absolutely necessary, but I could afford to risk myself. I knew I could manage.

I took the elevator down to Chris’ workshop. I knocked on the door, almost utilizing my Brute strength. I knew Chris wouldn’t be stirred from his Tinker-haze elsewise. The inside of the workshop stirred with the sounds of things shifting and the door slid open. Chris stuck his head out, the dark rings under his eyes still present.

“Oh hey Taylor. What’s up?”

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Apparently you. Chris, you need to get some sleep.”

He sunk back sheepishly, eyes darting down the hallway. “Armsmaster didn’t send you to yell at me, did he?”

I shook my head, partly out of resignation. “No. Can I come in?” I asked as I already moved to step through the doorway, not really giving him much of a choice. His expression indicated he had picked up on the lack of a choice and was unhappy, but resigned to it.

I looked about the workshop. Some of the drones we had concocted sat half dismantled on his bench. The project had turned out great, giving me a set of practice buddies I could use and Chris another tool for his arsenal. His bench was a collection of half finished projects, things full of potential that was going unrealized. The smell of solder and fresh plastics hung heavy in the air.

“What’s going on? I know Armsmaster stays up all night because he’s overloaded and kind of anal like that, but why are you?” I prodded into the uncomfortable topic. It seemed to be a new habit I was developing.

Chris shrunk at the attention, glancing at his workbench. “I-It’s embarrassing.”

I raised my eyebrows in silent query.

He continued at the prompting. “Every Tinker has a specialization, but I don’t. Half my projects fail because I don’t know what I’m good at and I can’t finish them. It just falls apart and it sucks.”

I nodded sympathetically. A Tinker was defined by their specialization and not knowing it would be both limiting and frustrating. As could knowing it. Just because I knew Armsmaster was specialized in efficiency, it didn’t make him less intolerable at times.

“So you’ve been trying to figure it out by tinkering a whole bunch until it clicks?”

He nodded. “Basically, yeah. Like those drones you had me make! Those were great, something just felt right there. But after that, nothing’s been working again and I keep getting distracted...” He gave a heavy shrug, frustration weighing his actions down.

I stood next to his bench, hunching over to look at the various projects, “Have you tried putting together a list of things that have worked and things that haven’t?”

He sighed longingly. “Yeah. I couldn’t make any headway with it though and Armsmaster is too busy…”

“Can I see?”

Chris dug a binder out of a pile, handing it over. The sheaf of papers inside contained every tinkertech project he had attempted, how well it had gone, the technical details, PRT approval, the works. If nothing else, all that mandatory paperwork the PRT made Tinkers keep was handy at this moment. I sat down in one of the few clear spaces in the workshop, propping the binder up on a knee as I slowly flipped through it.

Chris’ voice peaked over the edge of the binder. “Taylor?”

I flipped through the pages, looking for a pattern. “I’m going to take a look through this. Maybe a different pair of eyes will help.”

He shrugged, returning to his workbench with quiet mutters of frustration as he tinkered. I opted to flip through his records, slowly and methodically. I skimmed the technical specifications, I had neither the time nor the knowledge to go through them, though I suspected it might have helped.

Hours passed as I sat in the corner of Chris’ workshop, flipping from page to page. Laser pistols, hoverboards, alternator cannons, speed boots, jetpacks, various goggle schematics, utility belts, even some attempts at personal vehicles. Everything present indicated he had tried an eclectic hodgepodge of technology. I got up and got us coffee, Chris as nervous and thankful as ever as he continued to work away.

The smell of burning electronics wafted by as I kept perusing his notes. What was it that made Tinkers specialities? It was a field or concept. Armsmaster miniaturized things essentially, fitting them in where they shouldn’t fit. Blasto grew things, he was restricted to wetware. Squealer made anything, but it had to be big and loud when she did. Leet could make anything, but only once. Every tinker had a theme.

There was something there. Some clue that I felt tickle the edges of my grey matter, demanding attention. The themes were nonsensical, anything from restricting the materials used to demanding they be presented in a certain way. The specialities covered what they made, how they made it, or why it worked. So it could be literally anything.

But each theme also fit the Tinker. Armsmaster was efficient to the point of infuriating others. Squealer was loud and obnoxious. Leet had hit success early and then crashed and burned the longer he tried to repeat that. Bakuda had been angry and explosive in temperament. I knew nothing about Blasto, but I suspected he had a personality tick that fit his speciality.

I narrowed my eyes over the binder as I looked at Chris. What was his speciality? He wasn’t restricted in material like a bio-tinker, he seemed to have an eclectic mix of things that did work. So more like Armsmaster or Leet, it was a concept that governed him. What was his main personality tick?

He was...nice? Good with the public? Not really things that were related to tinkering.

Everything that worked was something small; the drones had been easy for him. Not quite small, considering he had his hoverboard, but fundamentally...simple? Patterned? They weren’t the right words for it, but it was the right idea maybe. I raised my head fully from the book, breaking the long silence.

“Hey Chris.”

He jerked up from his project, surprised at the sudden noise. I cringed a bit internally as he almost dropped his tools. “Yeah?”

“What’s the word for when something is easy to take apart or make? Not simple or patterned, but you get the idea?”

Chris bit his lower lip in thought, “Uhm...disassemblable?”

I rolled the word over in my head, testing it out. “Is your speciality simple things that come apart then?”

Chris shook his head, frowning a bit. “No. My hoverboard is pretty complex, it gave the safety techs a headache with its schematics.”

I chewed my lip a bit as I looked through the binder pages, seeing what he meant. “What about small things then? Like your pistols, your gear and all that?”

Again a shake of the head. “Most of it’s small, but that doesn’t really feel necessary…? My alternator cannon is actually pretty big and that just got approved.”

I thinned my lips in frustration. It felt like the right train of thought, but it clearly wasn’t resonating with Chris.

I shrugged, a bit unsure of the idea myself. “You know how Armsmaster is stupidly efficient about everything including sleep?”

Chris nodded with a sleep-deprived chuckle, almost tittering.

“Well, his speciality is efficiency. So we see it in how he acts. Do you have anything that fits? Like a personality tick related to tinkering? Apparently not small or simple things but something related maybe?”

Chris snapped his fingers, entire body paused in thought for a half second before a sudden. “Ye-No, no, that’d be stupid…”

He spaced out for a bit, exhausted gaze turned inward before his eyes started to widen. After a minute an energy took his figure and a grin cracked on his face. “Ohmygod.”

I was startled as he dove for me, arms wrapping around me in a hug that might’ve earned him a Mover rating.

“Ohmygod thankyoutahnkyouthankyou. It makes perfect sense!”

I kept my eyebrows raised in question, Chris’ sudden enlightenment hadn’t been contagious, “What makes sense?”

I got an eyeful of teeth as he smiled into my face. “Hot-swapping! I get distracted all the time, like when I Tinker, right? Well all my gear is made up of bits that hook together, things that I can switch back and forth from!”

I nodded along slowly as I started to see what he meant. “So like...plug-n-play kind of stuff? Switch gear out on the fly.”

He nodded violently and I worried for his neck. “I mean, I still have to try it and test it out but…”

I felt a small smile form on my face. “But it feels right.”

He grinned widely, the energy of a Tinker frenzy behind his smile and the fervor of hope behind his eyes.

“It feels right.”

\---

I woke up with a smile on my face. Well, not really. But it was in my head internally, despite all the other things in my head that weighed on me making me ill content. Helping Chris had felt good, like I had done something solidly good that I could look at and say ‘I did a good thing’. My sleep deprived brain rambled through that sentence, making even my internal monologue cringe. Three hours of sleep was more of a nap than a night’s sleep, but I couldn’t sleep longer. I’d wake up in fits of impatience, all the things I needed to do keeping me from falling back to sleep.

I logged onto my computer, checking on the case file for Danny Hebert. Dad. No progress had been marked for weeks. The investigation had fallen stale quickly after my joining despite a lot of work. Probes had been sent, lab tests run, surveillance footage checked. My neighborhood didn’t exactly have a plethora of cameras which had made it easy for the murderer to get in and out unseen.

The bombings that followed two weeks later had stalled the case entirely. All our resources, even mine, were tied up in dealing with the aftermath. There simply wasn’t anything to be done, but it grated at me. The colder the case got, the less likely I’d find his killer. Dragon was keeping an eye for signs of his Tinkertech showing up anywhere. It was distinctive enough that if anyone tried to sell or trade it, it would raise some serious red flags.

At the moment, there hadn’t been a single sighting or suspected case of it outside of a house a few dozen miles north of Brockton Bay. A woman had been left inside, puppeted like a marionette with red fibers that resembled the cloth I used. They were a bit different, but it was clearly a derivative. It didn’t give us much of a clue. We already knew whoever had murdered my Dad was a villain, this just confirmed that they likely ran a quick test of the tech out before completely fleeing the area.

Frankly, we had little to go on until something new popped up. Dragon had reassured me it would eventually, nobody stole tinkertech only to never use it or sell it, but it was little help for my current restlessness.

I performed my morning ablutions. Missy greeted me as I entered the main room with a smile and I returned it. In my head the gears turned, machinations for how I would dismantle the E88 coming together. My thoughts were interrupted as a pit of dread coiled in my gut.

A klaxon sounded all over the base. Missy looked over to me, concern in her eyes quickly shifting to growing fury.

The klaxon sounded again.

A distinct sound that every man, woman, and child knew.

The Endbringer sirens rang throughout Brockton Bay.

I couldn’t waste a second. My Kamui transforming as I rushed for the elevator, the doors closing and cutting off the belated protests of Missy. I didn’t know if Parian had finished, but I needed whatever she had done. I needed it now. It was time to put the project into the field. I could only hope I had time as I pushed my legs just a little harder.


	11. Chapter 8: I Will Wipe My Own Tears

###  Chapter 8: I Will Wipe My Own Tears 

Thunderheads formed over the coast.

I spat a curse at them.

“Ichor! Report back to base immediately!”

Armsmaster’s voice buzzed over my headset. I had taken it on the very real chance that I wouldn’t be back in time.

“I need to get something. It’s worth it.”

Armsmaster’s voice, laced with frustration, buzzed back, “Explain.”

I dashed from roof to roof. The streets below were filled with civilians all panicking as they rushed for the shelters. Cars jammed the streets, animals barked in confusion, things were lost and dropped. I kept above the crowds, it was the only way I could make any decent progress.

“I have experimental tinkertech based on my outfit. It should at least provide a decent Brute rating with none of the risks my suit has. If we can outfit the Wards with it…”

Armsmaster cut in, “Use unapproved tinkertech on Wards in an Endbringer fight?”

I leaped closer to the Boardwalk, practically soaring as I bounded across the city. The coast was in my sight, already being buffeted by storm waves. A cloak of rain was fast approaching off the coast. I knew exactly what that meant, though it didn’t help one damn bit.

“It’s based off mine, it’s tested. It uses significantly less, only 30%. That way it gives some benefits without the...risks I suffered. The enhanced toughness could be the difference for whether we lose more Wards. The team won’t survive another loss, and you know the casualty rates!” I practically shouted into the mic, desperate to not be held up at the precipice. We had so little time to do this if it was going to work.

A pregnant moment of silence passed before he replied, “You have eight minutes before Leviathan hits land. Move faster.”

I exhaled hard, relief flooding through me as I sucked in more air. The sounds of an entire city trying to evacuate filled the air around me. Already I knew they wouldn’t make it. The streets were too packed, moving too slow, for that eight minute window. Things were going to get ugly real fast.

I thumbed my headset. “Clock, broadcast your mic so I can hear what’s happening on your end.”

I heard the mic switch from silence to the low sounds of a crowd, conversations drifting in and out of audibility. “Got it. Where are you?” His voice sounded worried, which was fair enough.

I felt the curtain of rain hit me as the edge passed over the city, the shower quickly turning heavier as I pushed through it towards the Boardwalk. I dropped down onto street level, the Boardwalk was entirely deserted already, being non-residential and close to the coast made it a poor area to stick around.

“I’m grabbing something important. Just stick with the others.”

The headset crackled with a booming, charismatic voice, “I’m proud to see so many of you here already. We don’t always get time to brief participants on what they’ll be facing…”

I felt my hair weigh me down as it got soaked, the outfit literally refusing to let water sully it. Well at least there was one minor benefit to this thing. I rushed down towards the far end of the Boardwalk, spotting Parian’s shop. Naturally she hadn’t been in this early. I busted the door in with my shoulder, I’d pay for it later and apologize.

I heard the headset in the back of my head as I hurried, “...Brockton Bay is a soft target. Due to the aquifer under the city, we cannot afford to hold and wait. We have to hit Leviathan hard and drive him back before he can breach that aquifer…”

Rushing past where the mannequins and displays would’ve been, I made my way to the backroom. A false panel in the wall hid the work Parian had left for safekeeping. Four white and black bodysuits, vaguely styled like uniforms. Each appeared to my eyes to be finished. I grabbed them, throwing the entire bundle in a spare bag and hefting it over my shoulder.

I looked out the door and saw only undulating dark, stormy blue which confused me for a moment. _Wave. Shit that’s a wave._ I turned on my heel, dashing for the back of the shop again as I shouted into my headset.

“Clock! Wave! Now!”

I leaped over the counter and into the back room, slamming the door shut behind me. The wave crashed into the Boardwalk, shattering the store fronts. The lights cut out in the building, plunging the room into darkness. Debris went flying as wood buckled and splintered, displays shattered and thrown, and the reconstruction efforts of the past week disappeared. The door held as water seeped underneath, my back to it.

“Zzz-...Blasters with me! Close range combatants with Armsmaster, Brutes who can handle a hit with Alexandria! We need to get out of the building before the next wave hits. Group up, group up!”

_At least the reinforced walls held it sounds like. I can’t stay here. If another wave hits and floods this room I could drown. I have to get back to everyone else and re-group._

I moved slowly and carefully, feeling for where I knew the backdoor should be. My hands groped in the darkness until I found the doorknob, firmly locked in place. Sadly I wouldn’t have the chance to pay for the front door after this, so I summarily kicked out the back door. Light shone in from the overcast skies.

Outside water ran down the street a few inches high and the sky poured buckets down, obscuring visibility and impairing movement. I stepped out into the water cautiously, wary of what might have been swept in the currents under the surface that could disrupt my balance. I made my way down the back alley for the main street. I’d be able to look around and plan my route from there.

I burst into the street, looking down one way towards the city center. It was lightly flooded, but passable. The buildings on the front line were pretty screwed, but the rest of the city seemed to be in okay shape.

I looked the other way, towards the coast. An inhuman lump started to emerge from the water and-

_Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope._

I shot backwards into the alley, breaking line of sight. _Shit, shit, shit. Leviathan is here. RIGHT HERE._ My mind raced with a mix of adrenaline fuelled panic and logical panic. Lots of panic. Could I maybe take a hit from Leviathan? Maybe. Could I do anything to him alone and next to the ocean? _Fuck_ no.

I whispered into my headset, “Leviathan spotted, B-12.”

I heard Armsmaster curse on the other end, repeating the coordinates before speaking to me, “Ichor get out of there immediately.”

I grimaced as I kept my back to the beachside wall, pressed tight against it, “Can’t move. I’ll be in his line of sight.”

Another curse from Armsmaster, “Fuck. Hold tight, let it pass. Regroup with us after.”

I whispered, desperate to keep my voice low, “Roger.” I had no idea how Leviathan sensed, if he could hear, but I didn’t want to be the unfortunate cape to find out he did in fact have super hearing in addition to everything else. The rain pelted me in the shelter of the listing building’s wall. I kept my eyes peeled, glancing nervously between the two ends of the alley and overhead. I had seen enough horror movies, I wasn’t leaving any sight-lines uncovered.

A massive digitigrade foot entered my vision at the end of the alley I had previously exited. Towering at thirty some feet tall, a sickly greyish-green pallor, and top heavy stood Leviathan. Rain poured down over him, giving him a wet sheen. He swayed back and forth slowly, the heavy set shoulders hunched over as water fell to the ground behind him in heavy sheets that gave him an ethereal aura. I stood stock still, not even daring to breath as he stalked past and down the street, claws trailing along building edges as he looked around.

My knees gave out and I collapsed onto my rear, sitting in the slowly rising flood water. My body trembled at the all too present threat. I had to act. I couldn’t afford to waste time, time where others might be dying while I sat like a wreck.

“Leviathan headed West down Lords, B-11.” I mumbled into my headset.

I heard Armsmaster exhale, relieved, as he relayed my information. My knuckles were white under the gloves, my grip on the bag like steel. I had a mission. A job to do. I could do this. No. Not could. I had to do this. Endbringers had killed millions, if I faltered now I wouldn’t save anyone.

I got to my feet and grabbed the nearest fire escape ladder, pulling myself up slowly until I got a view over the rooftops. Leviathan was no longer in sight, but the sounds of battle rung out from further west in sudden bursts separated by disturbing lulls. I tied the bag shut and fastened the strap to the back of my costume.

Time to run.

I bolted from roof to roof, my pace slower than before as the driving rain made my footing slippery and the going treacherous. I didn’t dare drop to street level where water pooled in increasingly deep streams and shallows. As I approached, I got my second look at Leviathan from a few blocks away.

He, or it, stood thirty feet high, batting Alexandria to the side as she dove for him. A dozen capes circled around him, all fliers of some sort, blasting him with everything from lasers to telekinesis as a few Brutes desperately tried to keep him contained. Leviathan surged forward, zig-zagging to the side as his water echo hit all three Brutes simultaneously. In a flash of movement one was cut into ribbons, Leviathan’s tail snaking back as he fell.

_He moves so fast, they simply can’t keep up with him. I can’t even track him when he dashes. I need to get in there as soon as I can, before he can do more damage. I can’t be afraid. I can’t lose my resolve now._ I squeezed my fists as I tried to hold onto my courage.

I tabbed my headset. “Armsmaster, I have the package. I need pick-up at a rooftop two blocks East of Leviathan’s current position.”

A voice buzzed through after a moment, “Roger, flier incoming...and I’m glad you’re safe Ichor.”

I quirked a smile at that. The extra words weren’t much, but from a man that was usually taciturn, it was everything. Did I still bear a lifelong grudge against him? Probably. But seeing that he had cared made me feel for him a bit even so.

A man in a costume with a feather motif dove for me, landing beside me. His heavily feathered costume, normally bright blues, seemed to suffer in the rain. He spoke hurriedly, “Ichor?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I need to be taken to Aegis, Clockblocker, Vista, and Kid Win asap.”

He paced nervously, checking around constantly as he pressed two buttons on his wristband and repeating the request, with a bit of modification. “Aegis, Clockblocker, Vista, Kid Win asap to B-6 marker.”

He looked to me. “Take my hand then, let’s hope they keep the fucker busy, eh?”

I grabbed his outstretched hand, feeling myself float up with him. Hmm, so whatever power he had for flight he was able to extend to others. Handy, no wonder he was on the team for mobility. He could rescue injured really well if they didn’t need to exert themselves to be moved. We moved at a moderate pace, he certainly wasn’t one of the fastest fliers, keeping a fair distance from Leviathan as we circled around him.

Another wave surged through the city below us, knocking down some of the already compromised buildings and taking a few of the less mobile capes by surprise. I saw the bright glow of forcefields under the water, one disappearing before it resurfaced and dark red mixing into the water above it. The cape’s armband chattered off a list of the downed and deceased.

As we landed several blocks from the fighting I saw a battered and bruised Wards team awaiting me. Aegis was the most beaten up, his left arm looked like it had been flayed. Clockblocker was definitely stressing out and Vista clutched a crowbar with white knuckles. Alright then, if it helped her cope, good for her. I couldn’t help but smile as we landed, seeing them all okay was a relief.

Clockblocker and Vista rushed forward, giving me a hug as Kid Win and Aegis stood back awkwardly.

“You scared the crap out of us!”

“What the hell were you thinking?!”

The barrage of indignation hit me, but I didn’t let it reach me. I knew I had worried them, and the beratement was what I was due. I waved to the flier cape as he departed and untied the satchel, holding it forward.

“I’m sorry guys. But I think you may forgive me.” I shook the bag enticingly, Vista pulled one of the white stylized bodysuits out, looking at it with confusion.

Clockblocker frowned. “Bodysuits?”

I nodded, “Bodysuits made of tinkertech related to mine.” I pointed a thumb at myself. “You can wear them under your costumes. It should give you super-strength and durability to some degree at least. Nothing like mine, but it might be enough today to…” I gestured vaguely in the direction of Leviathan.

A series of grim-faced nods followed as they caught my meaning. Aegis looked hesitant as he grabbed one. “Is it safe though? We all saw what happened with you and Lung.”

Clockblocker snorted, grabbing one for himself with a dirty look from Aegis. “Fuck it, even if it’s not I’m putting it on. If it might save me from getting turned into a meat-patty by fish-fins, I’ll do anything.”

Kid Win grabbed the last, frowning at how small it was. “Uh, Vista, I think I got yours…”

She was comparing the too long legs to herself on the one she held. “Oh yeah, thanks!”

Clockblocker looked up as he untangled his suit. “Wait, how did you get our measurements?”

They switched garments as I spoke to Aegis as worry settled into his form, completely ignoring Clock’s question, “It’s safe. It’s not as strong, but we’re pretty sure it’s safe. And if you really need it, you can get a bit more out of it. We haven’t tested that function yet, but it’s there.”

Aegis raised an eyebrow, “We? And how do we activate it? That sounds pretty critical for an Endbringer fight.”

I gave a dry chuckle. “Pose dramatically and tell it to activate. Or flip the cufflink. Blame Vista for that one.”

Vista pipped up indignantly, “Hey! I had nothing to do with this!” She muttered afterwards, “Mostly.”

Clockblocker held up a hand, shoving an armband in my direction. “For the fight. Put it on and tell it your name. Buttons let you speak or make requests.”

I took the armband, latching it around my wrist and entering my name quickly at its prompt. It was reassuring that the team had thought of me enough to snag a spare for my return.

I ducked suddenly as I heard the crash of a building much closer to us than the others. The rest followed suit a half second later and I rushed them, pushing the suits in their hands up against them.

“Put it on now, argue later. Strip, strip, **strip!**”

The Wards awkwardly ran off to separate corners of the rooftop to change as I kept my eyes out for Leviathan moving any closer. He was currently in a fight with Kaiser, Armsmaster, and some sort of ice-themed cape. Kaiser was clearly being pressed back as the ice-cape covered his fighting retreat and Armsmaster worked to flank the Endbringer, trying to distract it from pushing through and butchering the two.

I shouted to the group as I stepped onto the roof ledge, “I’m going!”

With a bound, I leaped off, my trajectory aiming me right over where Leviathan was. A flick of his tail sent a water echo at me, whipping right at my middle. I dove feet first, splitting the water with a grunt as it robbed me of my momentum. I hit the ground with a splash and a thud a moment later, a dozen feet behind the Endbringer where it had pinned Kaiser into a corner.

_God I can’t even get close to him easily. If I wasn’t wearing the Kamui my legs would be broken already..._

Right as it dove for him, a cape dropped down from above, shielding the both of them in the nick of time. Cracks danced out across the shield and the man inside dropped to one knee. Armsmaster plunged his halberd into the thigh of the creature, ichor seeping from where the fuzzy edged blade swiped. I dove in, aiming for the other leg as I threw all my strength into a punch.

My fist hit what felt like steely, which buckled in a little, and then stopped, the deeper flesh resisting my blow. Leviathan bodychecked me to the side, its massive weight sending me hurtling into the side of a truck. The truck won as I slumped off, dropping into the running water of the street.

“Rime down, B-7.”

“Fenja down, B-7.”

_Already? I can’t even hurt him. I have to try harder. If my superstrength isn’t enough, what about my blood? He controls water, if I can interfere with that then maybe I can distract him for the heavier hitters._

The armband rang out as I collected myself, picking my body up from the crumpled side of the truck. I let my blood pool around me from the light cuts that were closing up. I pushed more blood out instead of letting it stop, pooling more around me and letting it spread into the floodwaters.

I could still feel it. That was important, I didn’t know if Leviathan’s power did anything to the water which would interfere with my control of my blood. I had seen how the Endbringer fought, feinting and letting its water echo finish off or stagger opponents while its real body demolished the tougher capes that drew its attention.

Kaiser was still standing, a wounded Menja shielding him and a downed Fenja. He had erected metal pillars, each a few feet thick, between him and Leviathan. They slowed him, but hardly were going to stop him, even with Menja lashing out from behind the cover to dissuade him. Another cape flew in to help relieve the faltering villains, only for a whip of Leviathan’s tail and its water echo to send him veering horribly off course.

I didn’t hear a downed signal from the armband, so he probably was fine. Can’t afford to worry about every cape here. Do what you can. I rushed for Leviathan, straight and predictable as I drew my blood along the waters with me. He feinted my way, sending a water echo out. I feinted to the side, throwing a huge wall of blood up to hit the echo right before me. The fluids clashed, spraying everywhere as their momentum dispersed in the collision.

_It worked! Okay, I can do this. Neutralize the echoes and create openings for the others._

Now all I had to do was duck in to punch Leviathan while he expected his water echo to do the work and-

Leviathan appeared around the spray, right in front of me. A clash lashing out to swipe at me faster than thought.

**_Fu-_**

The next thing I knew I was on the ground, I could taste blood in my mouth, and my torso ran with a criss-cross of fire. In moments, Leviathan was right over top of me again. I tried to pull my blood back together to blast him from behind, but it would be too slow, too dispersed by the collision.

I felt wind rush against my body as the world moved and upended. Below, Aegis was pummelling Leviathan from the side. Above, Alexandria looked down at me with a critical eye.

_Alexandria saved me. **Alexandria** saved me._

She spoke, her voice commanding the authority of the strongest woman in the world, “Back off. Your powers bother him, anything that can mess with his hydrokinesis does. Bait him away from others.”

I nodded dumbly at my childhood idol giving me orders. The pain in my chest numbed by awe and adrenaline. She set me down around a corner, a block away, and flew straight back into the action unerringly. I looked down at myself. My chest had ribbon-lines cut into it, bleeding viciously, but otherwise stable for the moment. Since I doubted I could bleed out too easily, I would probably be fine as long as the wounds didn’t open further. A tall cape in gold and black looked over at me, a hand going to his mouth as he dry heaved.

I guess it would look pretty bad._ It feels pretty bad._

My minor regeneration would help take care of the injury if I could give it a few minutes. The Kamui was being fully uncooperative, metaphorically sitting with its back to me. I wouldn’t let it stop me though. I would work with the power I had, and if it didn’t want to cooperate that didn’t matter.

“Bastion deceased, B-7. Falcon down, B-7. Laserdream down, B-7.”

I collected blood around me, the blood I had left around Leviathan still within my range. Distract Leviathan? I could do that.

“Spitfire down, B-7.”

I stepped out of cover, rounding the corner, and pulled. My blood jumped from the murky water, slamming into the Endbringer’s side in a mass large enough to match its. It stumbled slightly and turned, facing me immediately. Alexandria crashed into it in that moment, getting her arm around the beast’s neck and yanking it backwards onto the ground.

The more delicate capes dogpiled on as she kept it pinned for a few seconds, a barrage of lasers and projectiles flooding into its torso. Layers of flesh peeled back and scorched. Right as it seemed about to break out of her grip, Dragon’s mech tackled on top of it. A gout of blue, goopy flame swathed over the Endbringer’s face as Dragon blasted it pointblank.

The Endbringer writhed under the searing flames, chunks of its head sloughing off in the heat. In a fluid motion it twisted sideways, tail whipping up and cleaving one of the mech’s arms off. With leverage lost, it was tossed to the side and Leviathan was able to flip Alexandria off. I took the opportunity to interrupt the water echo it sent at one of the nearby capes with a blood echo to match and a second to hit Leviathan in the back of the knees.

This time it didn’t stumble, but it did turn and leap for me. Water sloshing down behind it as it’s long leap left a water echo trail that crashed into the city around and devastated. I bolted around the corner, breaking line of sight and throwing my main reservoir of blood behind me where it would come around. It moved far faster than anything of its size had a right to.

I turned into an alley as the pouring rain obscured my sightlines. I felt the tail whip and hit me in the back, sending me flying forward with a sharp pain across my back where I had been hit. I heard the crash and roar of other capes joining the fray behind me as I struggled to push myself to my feet. My eyes teared up as pain shot up and down my back from the site of injury.

“Dreamer down, C-6. Frostbite deceased, C-6. Trainwreck deceased, C-6.”

_I can’t keep taking hits like this. I haven’t been able to heal from the last one yet. I need to move faster._

I wiped my tears away, pushing myself fully upright again. I had only just started to heal the injuries across my chest when he had rushed me. The one across my back felt more severe, like something was close to breaking but wasn’t quite there yet. I dug deep into the Kamui, pulling a little more power from it despite it’s lack of cooperation. I could feel it lurking, waiting to pounce on my bloodlust or anger. Envious of my battle, but refusing to fight if I didn’t fight how it wanted.

“Assault down, C-6.”

I cursed, spinning around and limping out of the alley. The fight was still on.

Leviathan spun around a motley collection of capes which seemed to be holding their own. Assault lay injured near the end of the street, only to disappear as a Mover quickly appeared, grabbed him, and disappeared. Shards of gem-like earth sprouted from the ground, trying to encase Leviathan’s feet, but failing as he simply moved around them. Legend’s lasers rained down from on-high, keeping pressure on him to stay on the move. He didn’t seem to be attacking as hard for the moment.

Maybe the attacks had weakened him? The front of the Endbringer’s torso was splayed apart, burnt and cut from when he had been vulnerable and unable to dodge the barrage. His face had a half-melted slant on one side from Dragon’s suit and his thigh still bled Ichor from Armsmaster’s early hit. A few other places were scored or damaged superficially, but it didn’t seem deep enough to slow the Endbringer already.

I had a sinking feeling as I felt my blood shift a block over where some of it had pooled while I had been distracted by Leviathan.

_He’s playing us. Going on the defensive to lure us in while he swamps us from behind with a wave. He’s smarter than we’re giving him credit._

I shouted, pressing the buttons on my armband, “WAVE!”

Capes started to react, fliers grabbing capes who were ground-bound to pull them to safety. Leviathan jumped into action, claws and tail lashing out to separate the Movers from the those stuck below, or take advantage of the distraction. I gritted my teeth and saw what I had to do. We had too many capes on the ground, a wave in the next ten seconds would destroy our attacking force. They couldn’t get clear because Leviathan was covering them from the fliers and Movers, short of direct teleporting.

I sprinted forward, smacking my fist into the creature’s flank for a second time. The Endbringer twisted for me as I expected and I pushed up with my own blood. I was repeating Alexandria’s manoeuvre, trying to get my arm around its neck. I looped my arm around it as it swiped for me and heaved back, heels planted between the shoulders as I tried to bend it back.

The tail whipped up, lashing me in the back again with searing pain as I dug my fingers in. Tears welled at the corners of my eyes. I saw the ground capes being evacuated in the sides of my vision as the wave rushed forward to meet us. I pushed off Leviathan, trying to jump over the crest of the wave as it roared through the streets, obliterating the few intact parts left.

A clawed hand shot from the water, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me into the water. I felt myself being pulled down inside the rolling motion of the wave as I struggled against the inhumanely strong grip that threatened to squeeze me to death if it didn’t drown me first. I couldn’t break free, I had no leverage in my position and the water buffeted me as we moved at ridiculous speeds.

_Need to escape, need to escape._

Suddenly I was in the middle of the street, gasping in air like a very rapidly displaced fish. Trickster gave a wave from a dozen feet over, peeking over from an alleyway and tapping the side of his nose. I was too exhausted to do anything but give him a flagging thumbs up in return.

“Resolute down, DE-7. Resolute deceased, DE-7. Chubster down, DE-7.”

I pushed myself to my knees in the floodwaters, coughing and sputtering as water dribbled from my mouth, mixed with saliva and bile.

_That was close. I could’ve died in there. We don’t stand a chance fighting him in the water. What can we even do to stop him? He’s tearing us apart bit by bit._

“Hallow down, DE-7. Intrepid deceased, DE-7. Faultline deceased, DE-7.”

_Like that..._

I hacked again, blood dribbling from my mouth and adding an imperceptible amount to the pool of my power. I could feel every drop of my blood as it pooled outside and inside of me. Blood that tried to pool in my lungs got shunted back into my bloodstream. I didn’t have precise control, but I could encourage the flow to stay out of my organs. I knew, abstractly, that Leviathan had hurt me something fierce when he had grabbed me. I also knew, intuitively with my power, that I was in very bad shape. My body felt oddly detached and doll-like as I willed it to move. I also knew that he was fast and every second I spent on the ground was a second he had to dig into our lines.

_Don’t stop moving. Don’t give up._

I pushed myself to my feet. A cape was sitting heavily against an overturned car near to me, the flood waters almost reaching her chest as she breathed heavily. She was dressed in black armor, sleek and smooth like a carapace. I limped over to her, focus split as I kept a little bit on the blood inside me to keep it from pooling. If she isn’t moved higher up, she’ll drown before she can catch her breath.

I leaned over next to her. “Hey. I’m gonna move you to higher ground, ok?”

The cape nodded numbly, extending their arm a bit to make it easier for me to loop my arms around them. I grabbed her as gently as I could, though she still sputtered and cringed at the movement.

“This is going to hurt a little.”

I leaped, despite the screaming protests in my legs, landing us onto the roof of one of the more stable looking buildings nearby. The smell of seawater was less overpowering here, giving a reprieve I didn’t know I needed. I placed her down gently in the overhang of the stairwell and leaned heavily against the wall, sucking air in as I felt the suit stitching me back together. The injuries were piling up. My chest had stopped healing as it prioritized my back and then legs, leaving me seeping blood as it focused on the most critical injuries. Blood pooled at my feet as I took a moment and pressed the buttons on her armband.

“Injured, needs extraction.”

She reached her hand out, clamping down on my wrist. “Wait.”

She lifted her other arm, a mangled mess that clearly would never work again short of a cape getting to it. She used her good hand to pull the hilt of a sword out of it. The blade shone black even in the dark rain, unlike any metal I was familiar with. I wasn’t a blacksmith though, so my appraisal didn’t hold much weight.

She coughed through the words, “Take it. Might cut him. Never got the chance.”

_ Ah, a Tinker._

_ Tinkers are bullshit._

I took the blade.

_I like bullshit right about now._

My fists hadn’t done more than give Leviathan some superficial wounds that had already healed and disappeared. It was clear that my current strength wasn’t going to do much beyond occasionally draw his ire. A Tinker made blade might not work better either, but it was something new to try.

“Night deceased, CD-4. Prince of Blades down, CD-4. Snowflake deceased, CD-3. Humble deceased, CD-3.”

_I didn’t even know Night could die..._

I jumped down to street level, the heavy scent of salt and blood mixing in the air. The fight had moved on without me. I saw Eidolon out, his green aura lighting up the sky near the coast as beams of icy white shot down towards the ocean. He must be trying to stop or slow the waves so Leviathan can’t swamp the city as easily. A monumental task, considering he was fighting the greatest hydrokinetic in the world.

“Grue deceased, CD-3. Vixen deceased, CD-3.”

The litany of the dead continued, reminding me of my task. My back burned and jolted at my demands, but I forced myself to run down the street towards the fight. It was hard to miss. Leviathan hunched over on all fours, darting amongst the increasingly frayed formation of capes, cutting them down one after the next. He dashed for a cape that looked made of metal, the smack sending him flying out of my sight.

Dragon’s mech tackled the Endbringer into the side of a building. I wiped beads of water from my head as the rain continued to drench us. The environment here was half our battle and time was on Leviathan’s side. The Endbringer wrestled the mech off, flinging pieces of the building into the arrayed capes before darting forward and to the side, the water echo continuing to slam into a series of shields that sprung up.

“Box him in!” The shout came from Armsmaster as he led the charge, taking point with his halberd and blocking the way out for the beast. Other capes moved in to back him up, a half dozen heroes covering the sky while another half dozen flanked the sides in case he tried to burrow through the building. A cape, Sundancer based off her outfit and our intel, held a huge orb of fire above. A cape was pushing earthen ramparts into the sides of the building to reinforce it.

Leviathan paced in the ruined interior of the building, almost like it was waiting and taunting us. I rushed up alongside Armsmaster, pushing by the heroes less confident or brave and taking the front line. He glanced at me, a small grimace.

“Ichor.”

“Armsmaster.”

He took the right side of the gap, larger and requiring whoever had the better reach and skill. I didn’t protest, he was the leader of the local Protectorate after all. I just had some unknown blade in my hand that neither of us knew about. I really hoped it wasn’t an ordinary blade and that cape hadn’t been shitting me in some sort of delirium. That would be just my luck.

Sundancer dropped her sun down at Leviathan, and the battle resumed as suddenly as it had paused. The Endbringer lashed out of the ruined building for us, fully intent on breaking through our ranks like we were nothing more than paper soldiers. Armsmaster dove, extending his halberd out to hook and catch the creature’s ankle. I was a little closer.

If Leviathan dove past me, he’d get our backline. Whether those capes were less courageous or less strong, having an Endbringer amongst them would tear them apart either way.

I dove into his path, stabbing the sword straight for the extending claw that I knew would be coming for me. The blade sunk deep into the palm of the clawed limb, lodging in it as I was thrown from the impact backwards. My knuckles in a dead man’s grasp around the hilt, it pulled free and came with me._ Fuck, guess it wasn’t fake after all._ The blade gleamed, the black unblemished and calm like the still surface of a lake at night.

I felt myself land in something squishy, a shield of some sort that a cape had caught me in. He looked relieved to see me moving and I gave him a quick nod as I jumped back into the fray. Keep moving, keep moving, keep the blood moving. Leviathan had delayed at the sudden interference I had run, giving Armsmaster a moment to swipe at the ankle again. Thinned on both sides now, I slid on my knees into the water and swung the sword with all my strength for the opening. The blade cut deep, lodging at the midpoint where the Endbringer’s flesh was thickest.

I let go of the blade as it turned, the tail whipping at me with inhuman speed. A shield intervening in a lucky break as I moved to the side before it could crack and fail. Hookwolf tackled the Endbringer in a storm of blades, drawing its attention as a few blasters rained down fire on its upper half. I grabbed the exposed hilt of my blade, pulling it free and turning. I drove my strength and momentum into a second slice from the other direction.

Again the blade lodged deep, not quite piercing through the other cut I had left. I rolled out of the water as Leviathan thrashed above me, feeling a kick glance my side and send my spinning. My head spun momentarily, eyes unable to track the rapidly rotating world. My control slipping for a moment, blood seeping into my abdominal cavity before I pulled it back out.

“Hookwolf deceased, CD-3.”

I looked up to see the Endbringer holding a bloody pulp of metal and flesh in its newly opened hand. Even Hookwolf hadn’t been strong enough with his Breaker form to stand against an Endbringer._ Isn’t it supposed to retreat after enough damage? Why is it still here? We’ve lost half our heavy hitters, we won’t be able to push it much further._ I saw Armsmaster still trying to fight the good fight as Miss Militia fired rounds from down the block into the Endbringer’s face. The explosive rounds lit up the street through the overcast, sending the creature stumbling back.

A burst of speed and it went straight past Armsmaster like he didn’t even matter, going for Miss Militia. A blur of color and suddenly Miss Militia wasn’t there any more, though the armband rang out.

“Velocity down, CD-2.”

I hoped that coordinate meant that he had gotten some distance before going down, enough that they could get him out. He had been one of the nicest Protectorate members. Humble and kind. We already had lost a number of good capes. _Today is not a 1 in 4 day. Today is worse._ A beam of plasma shot out, scorching the side of Leviathan’s head, its tail lashed out and an unseen cape fell.

“Arc deceased, CD-2.”

_How much more did we need to do to drive the damn thing off?_ It was clearly taking some damage, but it wasn’t going anywhere. If anything, it was taunting us. Moving slowly, waiting for a lull and then rushing us, tearing apart a few capes before repeating. It wasn’t sustainable for us. I wracked my brain for a plan. What could I possibly do against an Endbringer? Even if I got the Wards to activate all their suits, it might at best distract it for a few minutes. It was far tougher than I imagined, even having read the files. It wasn’t backing off. It was just killing us off steadily. What hope was there against that?

What does someone do against a threat they can’t escape? A threat infinitely stronger than them? It was like a giant version of Winslow, an omnipresent threat that I couldn’t fight, I couldn’t put off forever. Before I had handled that by hiding, like cat and mouse, where I was the mouse. Was that all I had left here? My body was cracking at the edges, I knew it wouldn’t hold up against much more abuse. It was too much damage in too short a timeframe for my regeneration. If I didn’t keep my attention half on my own blood it would start to pool and bleed internally. 

_Another hit and I won’t be getting back up. The suit is working overtime just to keep my back from breaking right now. There’s nothing left for me to draw on. The Triumvirate hasn’t killed an Endbringer in all their years._

“Vista down, CD-3.” 

I whipped my head back into reality, looking at the battle. Maybe repeatedly getting thrown into buildings by a god-knows-how-many-tons lizard had given me a concussion, as I hadn’t noticed the Wards had taken up the front lines. Aegis and Kid Win flew around the Endbringer as Clockblocker stood protectively over Vista, who looked to have taken a bad hit. 

_Missy._

I started to rush over. No more cat and mouse. Not any more. 

Leviathan slipped past Aegis and Kid Win, tail lashing out for Clockblocker. Clockblocker huddled over Vista, completely vulnerable and I screamed. Blood tendrils spearing ahead of me for the Endbringer in impotent fury. _I was not losing another. I refused. But what can I do to stop it? Think Taylor, think!_

The tip of Leviathan’s tail severed as it whipped into Clockblocker, end coming clean off as he stood, immaculate and immobile. 

_ That stupid, clever son of a bitch._

The Endbringer reeled back at the sudden loss of the end of its tail. Kid Win took the opportunity to let loose a barrage of shots into its head as Aegis tried to tackle it by the weakened ankle. The Endbringer almost casually, it moved with such speed, kicked Aegis with the weakened foot, sending him crashing away. The claws lashed out at Kid Win, the water echoes filling the air around him and clipping his hoverboard. 

He dove off of it, hitting the ground with a roll and firing another barrage into the monster’s chest. The hoverboard exploded into a series of drones, which zipped out and added to his attack. Lasers pounded into Leviathan from every side as Kid Win tried to draw it away from Clockblocker’s frozen form and the laid out Vista. I noticed the distances warping around them, water echoes missing by feet they shouldn’t. Vista was still in the fight, keeping lethal blows from connecting by stretching or compacting the street around Chris. 

The Endbringer dashed for Chris who, even with Vista’s assistance, was too much in the path and unable to dodge. I saw his armor crack as the block sent him tumbling down the street and back. Panic rising under the calm I was desperately trying to keep. Don’t panic. Panic will kill you. 

“Kid Win down, CD-3.” 

_Down, not dead. He’s fine, he’s fine. Everyone is still fine._

Leviathan turned on the frozen form of Clockblocker, snaking around to where Vista was less protected. I interposed myself between them, holding the Tinker’s black blade in hand, parallel to the ground and pointed at it. I felt pride and fondness for my teammates swell inside me. 

_Like hell will I let you hurt them._ My blood pumped in my ears, a pounding in my head. I mentally felt the Kamui watching me, waiting to see what would happen. It didn’t want to help?< 

Fine. 

A claw swept for my head and I stuck the sword into the palm a second time, skewering through to the other side. The claw snapped back violently, my sword stuck hilt-deep in the palm. 

The other claw swiped for me and I reached out, grabbing it with bare and bloody hands like I had seen Alexandria do. The Endbringer pushed against my strength, clearly the greater as it slowly shoved me back, toying with me. 

I fell to one knee as I dug my heels in. My back trembled; I felt my muscles cramping and failing painfully. I had nothing left in the tank, the suit long since passed its capacity to hold my body together, now running dry. My arms trembled and cracked; I closed my eyes, pulling at the blood in my limbs to force them to stay up and push back. Blood seeped through the tissue and out my arms at the demands. 

_It’s toying with me. Waiting to hear my back crunch when it finally pushes me over the edge. Then it’ll kill Missy and Chris and Dennis and Carlos._

I could hear Vista behind me, whispering something. Not whispering, shouting. 

A name, one she had suggested, half-jokingly. A plea to remember an idea, half-considered. 

I reached down into the Kamui, reaching for that feral, animalistic intelligence. It had demands, requirements for its power that it laid before me. 

I swept them aside and pushed on it with my will. I felt it roar and strain as I pushed it down. It struggled, lashing out at me, trying to consume me. Full of anger, full of hate and violence. Full of red and the desire to see the world be red to reflect its own fucked up self. I realized it was pitiful, wasting its power and potential. Gorging itself on blood like a glutton, channelling it into wasteful hate, powerful but imprecise and untrained. It was like a child with power. I had trained myself relentlessly since I got powers. I didn’t need to ask it for power. _What was the quote? Oh, right. "Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars."_

It heaved, trying to boil my blood and turn even it against me. 

It failed. 

“**OVERRIDE**, Kamui Junketsu!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The music the end deserves and needs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ4i199cQ-4
> 
> Not gonna lie, even years later I still feel very proud of this chapter.


	12. Interlude 4: Parian/Aegis

### Interlude 4: Parian/Aegis

She froze, the wail of the siren dragging all of the dread and anxiety she had tried to push away up into the front of her mind. The moment she always dreaded. Sabah had tried to be careful, to avoid danger. She had chosen a spot on the Boardwalk just a few weeks back that wouldn’t threaten the more established businesses, but would still offer the protection of the Enforcers. She had been doubtful about it, but she needed the money and had gotten a good deal for the storefront rent. Not that it had lasted long. She had been in the hole from the initial costs already, the losses from the bombing had all but convinced her to abandon it.

She had only been there to grab whatever was left and call it quits when they had met. Without Ichor she would’ve given up on trying to recoup her losses from it. Suspiciously she had gotten a few orders from the PRT after Ichor had first spoken to her. Enough to convince her not to give up, despite her own doubts. Enough to keep her afloat too.

She had laid low with her powers, making it obvious she wasn’t a fighter or Tinker. She wasn’t a fighter, a producer of valuable tinkertech, or a cornerstone to someone’s grand plan. Sure, some had tried. College had been the first taste of people who wouldn’t take no as an answer. The Empire had tried to recruit her, followed by the Merchants, and even a representative from Coil had lurked around her shop. Some of them took no better than yes, but they still pushed. But she had maintained her peaceful, independent lifestyle so far, even if it took sacrifice and work.

She couldn’t do that anymore. She knew she didn’t have to go, but could she not? Her family lived in Brockton Bay. Hiding wouldn’t make the Endbringer go away and she had powers. They weren’t the best, but they meant she was obligated to go. Anything less would be a shame and a disappointment. She had disappointed her family before, could she do it again? The thought made her cringe.

She had frien- maybe too strong a word. A partner at least, here. Ichor worked with her. She was friendly, she gave Sabah full autonomy, she was polite. She was also intense, her suggestions carrying with them the underlying feel of authority. Sabah had turned down some of her ideas, some out of genuine concern and some to test if her offer was real. Ichor hadn’t pushed, hadn’t pried or threatened. She had accepted that Sabah didn’t want to do it and let it go. The girl was intense for her to deal with, but she always let Sabah draw the line and that meant more than she knew.

Could she disappoint Ichor? She would understand, give her the reassurance that combat wasn’t for everyone, but she would have that tired look she often got. The look of carrying the expectations of too many people on her back and that another person had just added a little more weight to her burden.

So she couldn’t. She hated feeling like she was stuck on a single track, but this wasn’t engineering or fashion. It would be over in a few hours, not a few years. She didn’t have to pass, just stay alive. She could do that.

She started stitching as she heard her family evacuating below. She turned the light in her room off, staying silent when they checked to see if she was home. She often stayed overnight working, they would simply assume she was at the Boardwalk. The knocking and shouts for her passed soon enough as her family rushed from the house, headed to the nearest shelter. Her needles floated through the air, stitching the fabric together in familiar patterns.

How big was an Endbringer? There were big, at least a story or two tall, so she needed something that could match that. She’d need time to stitch, but if she could make a few of her creations she might be able to help. The PRT building was a fair bit off and she couldn’t drag all of her fabric with her, she’d simply have to work here and join when she was ready.

The rain pounded on the roof above her, her windows gray and hazy from the torrent outside. Her normal costume wouldn’t do well in the rain, the large billowy dress would just get drenched and weighed down. She frowned at her costume, she couldn’t go out without something to obscure her identity. Something more protective would’ve been nice, but she had always believed if she started to prepare for a fight it would only lead her to get into them.

A suitcase caught her eye, askew at the foot of her desk. She had brought the prototype home with her on a whim to study. Now that she had refined the others, if she just tweaked the prototype…

It was dangerous. She wouldn’t have time to test it nearly as well as they had tested the others, and even those should get more testing.

Brockton Bay scared her, it wasn’t somewhere she felt like she belonged. She didn’t belong anywhere. The city hated her for her skin, the unpowered distanced themselves due to her powers, the capes frowned at her for her impartialness, her family resented her for her leaving engineering. She was so tired of it all.

Sabah was tired of feeling uncertain, of having others try to control her.

She picked up the case, opening the latch.

She wasn’t brave, she knew that. But maybe she could mimic what brave people did, just for today.

\---

Aegis grunted as he carried Clockblocker back. He needed to get him further back, his power was potentially a counter to the Endbringers. They couldn’t lose him to a stray attack that the close range Brutes were trying, and failing, to handle. He dropped Clockblocker a few feet into the dirty waters that ran through the streets.

“Man, I got water in my shoes.”

Aegis grimaced. “We all have water in our shoes. I have water in my spleen I’m pretty sure.”

Clockblocker looked up to him, confused. “I’m pretty sure that doesn’t go there, even for you.”

Aegis thinned his lips and shook his head. “It doesn’t. Anyway, I’m going back. We’re low on people who can actually get close, so…”

Clockblocker started to speak as a crashed echoed down the street. They both focused on the Endbringer, now driven into the interior of a skyscraper by one of Dragon’s mechs. The tougher capes were forming ranks around the opening, trying to box him in. After a moment Taylor appeared, rushing up to the front next to Armsmaster.

Aegis winced at the sight of her. Her outfit left a lot of skin exposed and it showed her back was black with contusions from Leviathan’s blows. Her front had deep red gashes that oozed red. She was in worse shape than he was, having taken direct hits from the Endbringer a few times over the fight. He was already on a few back-up organs, his lungs not quite working right after he had been crushed into the pavement once. That she still got up to fight…

She still went right to the front lines even. While he was here, running mover duty for Clockblocker. He wasn’t the aegis, the shield for the team. She was. She did a better job at leading and protecting than he did and it hurt to see. She had worked all day and night since the bombings and here she was, injured and exhausted and stabbing Leviathan in the ankle anyway.

He had thought long and hard on what his role in the team was. He couldn’t, shouldn’t, compete with Taylor to be the team’s shield. That was petty and ineffective. Instead he had come to a different conclusion. He could be her shield. She was the glue that held the team together after Dean had fallen into that coma and the bombings had rattled them. She was the leader, coming up with new strategies that had let them catch Empire capes without Protectorate help. If he couldn’t handle protecting the entire team, he could handle protecting her.

He flew into the fight, taking up post at the top of the building where the fliers and Movers had gone. As he arrived, Leviathan moved in a flash, spearing into the defenders on the ground. He saw Taylor dive into the way of the lunging monster, his breath hitching in his throat as she was thrown back and caught by another, only to dive right back in. The Endbringer outpaced her easily, but she fearlessly went into melee with it again and again.

He shouted to the assembled capes on the roof, “Blasters, fire, fire! Any shielders get some protection down there!”

He saw Hookwolf join the fray as Taylor went for Leviathan’s ankles a second time. He dove like a bullet. Leviathan raised its digitigrade foot to swipe at Taylor and he collided full body into its opposite shoulder, sending the blow askance from her. He smiled. Even if she didn’t notice half of what he did, he was happy to help her. If she could do more as a leader than he, he was proud to do what he could for her.

“Hookwolf deceased, CD-3.”

Leviathan caught and squeezed Hookwolf, crushing him into a pulp as Aegis battered at his face. Quick hit-and-run tactics to avoid the same fate as Hookwolf. He doubted he could survive being crushed like that, even with his redundant biology. He saw Taylor collecting herself to the side, the kick had glanced her but it was still a kick delivered by a monster with a kill count in the millions.

A flash of fire and light filled his vision and he swerved up and away as Miss Militia fired rounds into the monster’s flesh, eating away at the edges of already open wounds. Leviathan bounded through the water in long strides that more resembled gliding than running as it pursued her. Aegis flew after, calling in on his comm.

“Vista! Help Miss Militia! Clock, Kid, cover me, we’re going in.”

“On it!” Vista huffed through the mic, clearly running.

“Coming!” The other two called out.

He saw Velocity appear for a moment next to Miss Militia, the street around them started to warp and bend, giving them time to coordinate for a moment longer. Leviathan sped through the warped space, tail lashing out ahead of it for the two heroes who promptly disappeared right as the tail and water echo reached them.

“Velocity down, CD-2.”

“Arc deceased, CD-2.”

Aegis slammed into the back of the Endbringer, feet first as he tried to push it forward, only for it to whip around and nearly bisect him. Kid Win opened fire from the other side, trying to distract it as he saw Vista running through the street to reach Clockblocker. The Endbringer dove for her and Aegis dove for it. The water echo meant for her hit him first, sending him crashing into her. He tried to protect her, rolling with her and taking the impact but she was no Brute and he heard her cries of pain.

“Vista down, CD-3.”

They came to a halt and he flew up to bring the fight to Leviathan, keep it distracted from trying to finish off the injured Vista.

“Clock, get Vista now!”

He rushed around its head, but the distraction was ignored. He watched in horror as the Endbringer slipped past him for the two ground-bound Wards. The fear in his throat swallowed into a pit of relief and dread as the tail severed upon hitting Clockblocker. It saved their lives, but he was at the mercy of Leviathan and random chance that way. Aegis and Kid Win had to pull the Endbringer away or at least distract it until the other capes could rally and help.

They had lost too many Movers early on and it was difficult for most of the fighters to keep up when Leviathan decided to just run a full city block and move the fight. The foot or two of flood water and the pouring rain made it hard for both runners and fliers to reliably follow.

He dove low for the weakened ankle, following Taylor’s example when he felt the foot plant in his chest, sharpened toes digging deep into his flesh as he was thrown. He crashed into the water and the pavement beneath hard, the world flashing in and out as he had to switch organs for a lot of his cognition. That was a very bad case of whiplash and a severe concussion at minimum even for a Brute.

“Kid Win down, CD-3.”

He looked up, seeing Taylor between the Endbringer and his friends.

_She works so hard for us. Pushing herself harder than anyone just so she can be a better teammate._

The right claw lashed out at her and she stuck the strange blade she held through it, sending it reeling back in what looked like surprise. The left claw swung and she caught it. She fucking caught it, and was holding against it as she was forced down to a knee. Her arms were bleeding, bright red blood leaking out as she struggled. He could see capes rushing for her, but Leviathan was playing with her. It could crush her in a moment, and would as soon as the capes were almost close enough to save her. He was getting a sense of the calculated cruelty it possessed.

_What have I been doing? Content to take some blows, look beat up, and call it a day? Damn it, get up!_

He pushed himself up, feeling something pop out of joint. Grabbing the nearest car by the undercarriage and he hurled it at the Endbringer. Anything to buy even a second of time for her.

She yelled something through the downpour that he couldn’t make out and the world around her flashed with light. Her costume warped and stretched, the shoulders growing larger, the back vent opening up, a glow of red around her costume. The shockwave that blasted out from around her knocked the car astray and everything paused for a half second.

Then as if time suddenly resumed she twisted from her kneeling position and Leviathan’s arm bent, throwing the Endbringer off balance. With a speed he had never seen from her before she rushed inside its reach, kicking it low in the stomach. Leviathan whipped its tail at her but she ducked, pushing off its leg to jump up and grab her blade from its resting place in the beast’s palm. She stayed in close, the blood that had covered her was receding, her movements were crisp and fresh suddenly.

Other capes reached her, a cape blasting fire at Leviathan’s back as another threw sickle like projected blades at it. Its, and everyone else’s, focus was on Taylor however. It moved faster than before and he could barely keep track as the Endbringer and Taylor traded blows. She was luring it away through careful movements from Clockblocker and Vista. Dodging blows by inches as claw, tail, and water crashed down around her, the sword twirling and slashing as she shaved chunks of its skin off.

He organized while she fought. “Kid, back off to rendezvous, I’ve got Clock and Vista.”

An injured voice leaked back, “Yeah, gotcha. Ugggh...My gear’s wrecked, not much good out there.”

She seemed to defy physics, leaping with ridiculous speed, plunging the blade through the thinner parts of the Endbringer’s arms and legs. He saw his chance and he flew in, keeping a low profile as he waited for Clockblocker to unfreeze. Vista crawled out from his hunched over form and over to Aegis.

She spoke in a hushed voice, “Oh my god. She actually did it.”

Aegis didn’t dare take his eyes away from the fight. “Did what?”

Vista simply replied, “That.”

Taylor was weaving blood into her attacks now, the water was red with it for dozens of feet around her as she crashed huge waves into Leviathan, cancelling his echoes constantly. Leviathan seemed to be doing the opposite of losing though, going faster and throwing his water echo around even more, pressing Taylor from all sides. Water reared up from multiple sides at once, waves crashing against her blood barriers as they darted between the explosions of blue and red. Most of the other capes had been forced to stay back in supportive roles, save Alexandria who dove in to grapple and hinder Leviathan and cover Taylor.

“WAVE!”

“Wave?!?”

Vista and Aegis both turned to see Clockblocker confused and just now unfrozen as a huge wave, taller than many of the lower buildings, loomed towards them. Aegis grabbed Clockblocker and Vista, one in each arm and flew up and away. They could’ve use Clockblocker’s power, but unfreezing underwater or in the middle of the battle was less than ideal when Aegis knew he could make it. A flurry of activity happened below, Leviathan darting past Eidolon and Alexandria and into the backline of capes with sprays of red.

“Legend down, CD-3. Narwhal down, CD-3. Flashbang deceased, CD-3. Whirlygig deceased, CD-3. Thirteenth Hour deceased, CD-3.”

As he looked below he saw the red in the water -no the red was the water- swell and surge. A wave of blood rolled down the street and met the tidal wave midway, the impact sending spray hundreds of feet into the air and collapsing the middle of the wave. The sides curved inwards as the structure started to collapse and he saw the blood surging up to collide with those. Taylor had a truly insane amount of blood on the battlefield now and evidently she could control it all.

“Holy shit. Ok then. She’s getting a ratings review for her Shaker powers after this,” Clockblocker said dryly as he hung and watched below.

Aegis set them down on the roof of a squat, yet mildly stable, second story building where Kid Win awaited them. Leviathan was down the street and the battle had turned much differently. Blood raged in waves and vortices around them, water crashing into it and raging back. The entire street was ravaged as huge waves of fluids crashed into each other, spiralling blasts of blood and water colliding. Taylor looked pressed, losing ground even with Alexandria and Eidolon there providing support as the Endbringer pummeled them all from every direction hydrokinesis that it had rarely ever displayed. Strider popped in and out of existence, grabbing downed capes from the edges of the fight as the three worked in tandem.

“We can’t just watch. She needs us.” Aegis stated grimly.

“I’m out of tricks, Leviathan broke all my stuff. It’ll take weeks to rebuild…”

“I couldn’t tag him before. Now? Not a shot in hell.”

“It’s too cramped for me to warp much...but he’s right, we’ve got to help.”

Clockblocker and Kid Win looked to Vista, simultaneously asking, “How?”

She grinned. “Well, if I’m right and this is what Taylor hinted at…” Striking a pose on one leg as she gave them a wink. “Space Regalia!”

Three bright stars twinkled from her uniform in a flash. Her normal green and white costume warp and stretched around her, twisting in ways reminiscent of an M.C. Escher image. Parts seemed to turn in ways that were impossible, connecting to other parts that were equally impossible. It retained its green and white coloring, though much more starkly, with sharp borders between colors. Her headgear had warped into a tall hat, almost like a ten-gallon or a marching band hat that had stairs that warped and bent as they climbed around it. In her hand she twirled a cartoonishly-stylized crowbar that now fit her color scheme.

They all looked at her stunned and Clockblocker suddenly shouted, “Space Regalia, Ho!”

Nothing happened. He stood there awkwardly, looking at the others.

“Why didn’t it work?”

They looked back at him awkwardly shrugging and Vista snarked, “Because numbnuts, Space Regalia is mine and you’re not a space warper. Also this isn’t freakin’ Thundercats.” She rolled her eyes.

Clockblocker nodded in acceptance of this and struck a pose, clapping his hands together, “Hmmmm...Epoch Regalia!”

Three bright stars flashed vertically along his costume as it did the same as Vista’s. The panels and animated clocks shifted, his costume becoming more sleek and streamlined. Panels disappeared into smooth lines like a white carapace covering him seamlessly. Dates, times, and clocks all ran across him, rapidly ticking forward or backward in time. His helmet developed a T shape in the middle, which glowed bright with white light. Along his forearms and legs were a series of what looked like miniature panels all stacked close together like folding cards.

“Fucking nice! Best gift ever.”

Aegis and Kid Win looked at each other and shrugged. Vista just shook her head with disappointment at his naming.

They called out together, “Bulwark Regalia!” “Fabrication Regalia!”

The rooftop was filled with a brief flash of twinkling, prismatic light - a beacon of color in the torrential rain that threatened to sink Brockton Bay.

A muted voice spoke through the downpour,_ “Stand by, heavy casualties....”_


	13. Chapter 9: A Once in a Lifetime Chance

### Chapter 9: A Once in a Lifetime Chance

I felt the Kamui buckle under my will and power flood into me. The vent on the back opened and I felt the potential for speed. The shoulders burst forth and I felt stronger. My injuries knit together, blood fuelling the process. Every ounce of blood was power for the suit.

And I had **so much** blood.

I pushed on my power, fuelling the suit as far as it would go, my power spiralling levels beyond anything I had felt before. Leviathan’s claw pushed against my grip, reminding me it was there.

I twisted and _heaved_, flipping the Endbringer to the side with my sheer strength, leveraging against the ground through my legs. This power...the things I could do with it were limitless. To think I had been wasting the suit so much, unable to fully tap into it.

I kicked, my foot landing in Leviathan’s stomach, driving a dent into the beast’s flesh. It turned to whip its tail at me, but I was fast. Too fast. I hopped up, bouncing off it and going for the blade I had left sunk in its flesh. Retrieving the sword, I leapt into battle. My friends were counting on me and I wouldn’t fail them.

I dove between blows, Leviathan was moving faster now as well. Instead of the bursts of speed it used before, it was simply maintaining the speed constantly. I felt my blood flow like it was on fire, gushing through my veins and the Kamui as I danced between its claws and tail. My sword sung through the air, shaving its flesh with each strike so I could eventually reach its bone. Water echoes generated with each movement, blood echoes cancelling them out. I simply pushed blood from the suit with my movements, slamming blood into Leviathan constantly, drowning the water out.

We fought for control of the battlefield, the dance of blade and claw merely a prelude for the bigger fight already raging. Leviathan stirred the waters around us and I lashed back with blood. Sanguine streaks shot through the water, disrupting currents, dispersing energy, cancelling attacks. I kept my feet out of the water, sticking to my own blood or to the ruined city around me. Alexandria dove into the fight, grappling the beast and giving me a momentary reprieve and an opening to slice at its flesh.

She looked at me appraisingly and gave me a nod. We fought together, weaving our attacks as we learned each other's patterns and plans. Leviathan in turn learned, and quickly too. A claw swiped me as Alexandria went in low, anticipating our movement and I was pushed back. Not hurt and that was the reassurance I needed. Both our armbands alerted us simultaneously,

“WAVE!”

I glanced back to check on my friends, Clockblocker was moving and Aegis was gathering them to retreat. Good, their safety was my first priority. The city’s safety came next. I reached with my power, holding far more blood than I ever had before and pooled it around me. I saw the spray of the wave as it approached, crashing into building and toppling them. I had a chance to disrupt it before it hit the rest of the city and the assembled capes.

Leviathan sprung up, ambushing the supporting capes above us. Legend rushed to their aid, blindsided by a sudden water echo. Narwhal tried to block the onslaught with her shields, but the Endbringer dashed to the side, throwing her from the roof as it descended into the remaining capes.

“Legend down, CD-3. Narwhal down, CD-3. Flashbang deceased, CD-3. Whirlygig deceased, CD-3. Thirteenth Hour deceased, CD-3.”

I surged my blood forward, using almost all of it as it crested and grew forming a wave of its own. Alexandria seemed to pick up on the plan and flew into Leviathan, keeping it busy while I focused. The wave grew in speed as it rushed down the street and I pushed with my power like a blast as it collided with the massive tidal wave. I felt the blood spray back and high into the air, immediately pulling it back and to the sides to crash into the flanks of the wave and disrupt it more.

_It worked. Of course it worked. I have so much power now. Now it’s my turn to give people some hope._

I pulled my blood back and re-engaged Leviathan as it toppled to the street. Eidolon had joined the battle after the last wave had hit. He must’ve determined it wasn’t worth trying to hold the waves off anymore. That couldn’t be a good sign, since I recalled the waves got worse with time. If they were too big for Eidolon to handle, we couldn’t afford many more.

Alexandria, her costume shredded but her form immaculate, shouted to me, “How long can you maintain that?”

I felt my power reserves, felt my will over the Kamui. It took effort, but it was my willpower that held it in check.

“As long as we need.”

She gave me a look I couldn’t place and nodded, “We’ll drive him towards the Bay.”

Leviathan bolted at us, fast. Faster than I moved. That’s not right, I’m so fast thou- my thoughts cut off as I got chucked into the side of a building. I pulled myself free of the rubble right as Leviathan crashed into where I had been thrown, leaping to the side. Brick and masonry was thrown everywhere as Leviathan darted out of the hole for me.

_He’s been holding back this entire time. We could barely dent him before and he wasn’t even going 100% on us. This isn’t go-_

I desperately parried a strike from the long claws, the blade sliding along the incredibly hard flesh. I had stripped away the weaker flesh in my first blows, the claws that were left resisted my blade, thinner and sharper. I backpedalled as I was pushed onto the defensive, blood surging back and forth to mask my movements. Walls of blood rushed up as I side-stepped between them, darting away from Leviathan as it rushed crashed through my barriers.

A sharp claw dove for my face and I threw the blade up, feeling it whiff through my hair. The tail whipped for me right as Eidolon threw the Endbringer back with a vortex that warped space and hurt my eyes. He had some sort of gravity power and seemed to be pulling the Endbringer down, trying to slow and hinder it.

_ If this is it slowed down, I’m in big trouble._

The Endbringer turned right as I got my footing, dashing between Alexandria and Eidolon in a surprising gambit. The capes that were rallying behind us were suddenly thrown into the fray. Leviathan cut through the remaining capes, cutting down a group that had rallied nearby in a fraction of a second, dashing to another rooftop to cut down two more. A water echo sent seconds ago by its tail hitting a cape that had been trying to provide shield support for the first group. Moving too fast for me to catch up to him as he went from cape to cape.

“Stand by, heavy casualties…”

I shouted hoarsely through the rain, frustration and fury coloring my voice red, “Humans aren’t toys for you to play with!”

The Endbringer didn’t respond if it understood, simply pressuring me with the incredibly quick strikes and water echoes. I had to split my attention between dodging the strikes and neutralizing the water with my blood. Alexandria was trying to help, but she was just as clearly being forced back as I was. The heroine looking almost surprised through the thick downpour at the sudden ferocity. The Endbringer simply moved too fast, coordinated its attacks too perfectly. The force was enough to make my muscles strain when I had to block a hit.

I gritted my teeth, knuckles white around the sword hilt. I refused to fail here. I shouted, my blade biting into the Endbringer’s neck, thick ichor seeping out but not killing it. I cursed, losing ground in exchange for making such a deep attack, pushed further on the defense. The raging water and blood around us limited my options, not many capes could get through it and fight safely. Fewer of those were still in fighting shape.

“Listing casualties: Flechette, Sabertooth, Sham, Acoustic, Ballistic, Vixen, Geomancer, Shard Striker, Stinger, Oaf, Gregor, Armsmaster, La-"

_Armsmaster?_

The shortened tail lashed towards me in the millisecond of distraction and I shifted to block, knowing it would be followed by a worse hit yet if I devoted it all my attention. I smacked the tail with my blade, both objects recoiling back from the collision. A boom sounded behind me. No foot or claw connected with my back, instead a cape was there, having clearly just blocked the blow.

The cape was rust red in color, armor covered him head to toe in a mismatched mix of styles from across the ages. The heaviest of gauntlets, the thickest of pauldrons, and so on. Chains wrapped around him as if they held the armor to his body and a large collar jutted to protect his neck. A familiar voice rang out from inside and I was stirred from my reverie.

“Ichor! Leave the defense to me!”

_Ohmygod that’s Aegis. Wow, he kinda looks like a weird mix between a knight and one of those weird bondage people…_

_ Wait..._

_ Holy shit, the suits worked!_

The undersuits had been tested for their basic durability enhancement, giving whoever wore it a minor Brute rating and some increased strength. We hadn’t tested out the possibility of transformation, as much like my Kamui, we suspected they could from the tests we had run. Parian had opted to work on that part despite her wariness. Given the difficult nature of my own outfit and how it had been resistant to modifications so far, we had opted to wait until later to test the transformations in case it had any such difficulty.

What I saw before me made me realize not only had it worked, but the Wards must’ve triggered them. A last ditch trick I had given them, on the hope it could save their lives, and they had used it to come help me. I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye and gave Aegis a nod, sprinting to his side as he body-blocked blows from the Endbringer. I drove my blade into its side, feeling the blade stop as it hit something too hard to pierce.

The Endbringer twisted away, taking my blade with it. A blast of energy from the sky crashed into it, sending it reeling as its flesh smoked and burned, another layer eaten through. A figure sat up in the sky, firing from what I recognized as Chris’ Alternator Canon. His costume appeared to have a plethora of tools attached across it, a keyboard on one arm, some sort of holographic multi-tool on the other. His goggles resembled star-shaped sunglasses flared into spiked tips and he spoke through the comms.

“It’s weakest at the elbow joints. My goggles aren’t seeing any trace of organ or bone under the wounds.”

We had some deep gashes in the Endbringer by now. For it not to have anything but flesh and blood didn’t make sense. Nothing about them made sense. Why had it been holding back before? Why didn’t it run out of blood? Where did it even come from and why did it attack humanity? I focused on the arms, it was as good a target as any.

Alexandria had clearly heard and was punching the Endbringer in the side of the head while Eidolon fired some sort of cutting laser at the elbow joint, scoring it deeply before the Endbringer broke free of her and turned to disengage. It leapt down the street, going almost nowhere as it’s arm dangled loosely during regeneration. Vista, in her own transformed outfit, stood to the side with a malicious grin.

“You don’t go anywhere without my say so!”

She extended the street, pushing it out and then extended a piece of her own costume, blocking off the street wholesale. The Endbringer dashed for her, diving at her only to twist and avoid her at the last moment. Spiked panels hung in the air in front of her, frozen in time and space. I noticed more appearing around the Endbringer and traced it back to Clockblocker, who stood by Aegis now. He fired the shaped panels from his suit, a string trailing behind them which he used to freeze the entire thing wholesale. The panels expanded right before he’d freeze them, blocking off entire parts of the street in a deadly minefield.

Leviathan was quickly becoming mired in a labyrinth of inviolable objects and warped geometry. It attempted to dash up and was quickly punted back down as Alexandria and Eidolon held the sky. Myrddin joined them from a nearby roof, chanting something as he attempted to seal the vertical exit. Some strange purplish hue spread like a haze over the top where he pointed. I slid between time-stopped objects, moving inside to engage the increasingly trapped monster.

The world lurched and I stumbled for a moment. The ground under me cracked and buckled, pavement sliding down under the earth. Leviathan dove for the epicenter of the collapse, water bubbling up from between the sinking street. It had opened up a sinkhole underneath our trap, hollowing the ground out and making itself an escape. If it got into the water, we had no hope of keeping it contained. It was faster than any of us by a longshot in the water.

I darted forward, trying to engage the monster but it had already started to slip into the gurgling fountain forming and it was too late. The armband chirped at me.

A breathless female voice broadcast over the comms, “He’s going into the aquifer! You need to get everyone out of there, now!”

Dragon took over a moment later, “Leviathan has breached the aquifer. City collapse is imminent. Shift all efforts to evacuation.” Hadn’t her mech been destroyed? It was amazing she was still helping coordinate the battle even so.

Brockton Bay was a soft target, we knew that given sufficient time Leviathan could swallow the city into a giant sinkhole using the aquifer. But to think it had been done so quickly. There were tens of thousands of civilians in the city still, either hiding or bunkering in shelters. I darted back from the edge as the water started to rush up. Water was a domain I couldn’t win a fight in.

I pressed my armband, “Chances Leviathan won’t interfere with evacuation?”

Alexandria replied grimly, “Highly unlikely. We’ll need to distract it while the Movers work on evacuating the city. All Movers, assume CD-3 is the epicenter of the collapse, evacuate nearest shelters first and move out concentrically. Anyone with a flier rating or Tinkertech that can assist, do so immediately.”

My eyes watched the growing pool as I backed through the barriers left by Clockblocker, staying ahead of the rapidly expanding edge of sinking terrain.

Alexandria continued, “Myself, Ichor, and these four assisting Ichor will focus on restricting Leviathan. Everyone else is to evacuate immediately.”

The few capes that had survived the onslaught nearby nodded, grouping up. I saw the metal man from before among them, carrying a woman with an oversized crossbow. Her legs ended at the knee and she looked pale.

_Leviathan tore us apart. If we don’t stop him now, he’ll destroy the entire city._

Towards the interior of the city there was a rash of activity as fliers took to the air. The Wards made their way over to me, jogging through the pouring rain as we found a spot well back from the lake. Kid Win waved frantically as he came over.

“Ichor! I’ve got a few trackers I snuck into the wounds, Leviathan is on the move. I think he’s headed inland to start a second collapse, it would trap most land-bound traffic!”

Alexandria drifted down next to us, evidently hearing exactly what Kid Win said as she cursed. “Ichor, how much blood can you make? We need to draw him out of the aquifer and back to the coast. If it’s his choice, he’ll stay down there until he’s hollowed out the underside of the city and collapse it, coming up at random to pick us off. If you can lure him close to the surface side of it, we have a plan.”

I repressed the urge to frown at the tall order, opting to simply nod, “A lot? I’ve never hit a limit before. I think even more now.” I was a bit less sure than I pitched it. Yes I could force blood out, but enough to compete with the world’s strongest hydrokinetic? I had to hope so, otherwise this would be the shortest offensive of all time.

“Pour as much blood as you can into that sinkhole and try to disrupt his control. Kid Win, relay information to Ichor while we back off and set the trap. You four are with me.”

Alexandria for her part merely accepted it and started to relay orders through her armband to the rest of the capes while we grouped up. Kid Win took Clockblocker and Aegis took Vista. They would fly off and do something. I had to trust in Alexandria to have a plan. I would travel to the sinkhole, guided by my armband, and try to lure Leviathan out that way.

I approached the sinkhole, the downpour clouding my vision as the overcast clouds darkened the sky. The black waters of the sinkhole pooling and seeping up further with each second. I felt very alone suddenly.

I asked the armband, “Can this display light somehow?”

Dragon answered, “It’s not designed to, but I can make yours display maximum brightness for the emergency signal and hold it.”

A second later I had to shield my eyes as the armband shone like a beacon, “Perfect, thanks.”

I gathered all the blood I had pushed onto the battlefield around me. I had a massive amount, easily enough to surround me for a dozen meters in each direction as I formed the blob around me. I couldn’t swim nearly fast enough to catch Leviathan, but I could form very strong currents with my blood. I began to direct blood into the aquifer in large streams. The blood easily mixed with water, making moving it at a decent speed not an issue.

I pushed my own body, feeling blood pour out in rivers onto the street. My eyes closed as I focused on my task, feeling the blood well up in the aquifer. I felt the currents of water pushing up at the city, at the edges of the streets and pushed back. Spread the blood out, cover as much area as possible. Don’t spread too thin, keep circular currents going to reinforce it. Feel the currents, watch for Leviathan returning.

My body trembled, I felt my power starting to feel...full? I had never felt a limit before, but it felt like I might be approaching something like it. It felt like a long week of studying, my head full and nebulous.

_The collapse is starting here. I just need to contain it. Leviathan will want to stop me. I have one chance at this._

My thoughts were interrupted as I felt the street underneath my shatter, my eyes snapping open.

_Leviathan._

A foot and a tail lashed out from under the surface as I tried to move, my body crashing into the sinkhole’s pool. Water quickly closed overtop of me and I drew my blood around myself protectively, feeling currents of water pushing me down. My lungs burned for breath and I pushed back, feeling the water resist my blood.

_Air. Need air. Can’t breathe. Resources. Think. Blood. Blood carries air. Lots of blood._

I pulled blood back into my body, changing out the blood in me for some I had pulled down with me from the surface. I felt the burning sensation lessen, my head clearing.

I can cycle my blood out manually. Okay, good job Taylor, you won’t drown. Still don’t know how to get back out though.

The surface had disappeared, only the black around me. The currents had pushed me deeper, past the faint stretch of light that the city had cast into the waters.

Leviathan isn’t going to let me just leave. He’s brought me into his domain. I need to do something else then. Alexandria must know what happened, but I can’t count on them being able to help with the city collapsing.

I enveloped myself and let it carry me into the infinite darkness that was the sinkhole Leviathan had formed. Light disappeared almost immediately as I pulled down, the only thing shining was the beacon from my armband, giving me a scant dozen feet of light around me inside my blood bubble. Deeper I sunk until I felt the blood expand out without limit, I must have hit the main body of aquifer that Leviathan was hollowing out for its own personal domain.

I followed the origin of the currents, my only light being the armband that amazingly still worked. Tinkertech was some glorious bullshit when it was on my side. The world was a dim, hazy red as I established currents to throw me forward. At first I tumbled a bit, spinning, before I got the hang of it. I put my arms to my side like a torpedo, adjusting with the occasional kick as I levelled out and got the hang of it. My focus was split, keeping myself going forward smoothly and also recycling my own blood via the Kamui.

So far I didn’t feel like I was going to run out of air, though the sensation of holding my breath this long put an odd pressure in my chest. I didn’t like it and I would be happier the sooner I was out of here. Without the armband, I might never escape. The entrance was already lost to the darkness and I couldn’t see much beyond my own pale sphere of light. A chill went down my back, the thought of being lost down here until I finally did run out of air was unsettling.

I was broken out of my anxieties by a reminder that I would never reach that point. A current brushed against my blood bubble, rushing by in an instant like a missile. Faster than a missile, really. I would never suffocate down here because Leviathan would kill me long before then.

Another brushed against my blood bubble’s border, this time cutting into it a bit. Gone as soon as I felt it and on the complete opposite side from the one a moment before. Panic swelled a little in my breast. I slowed the travel of the bubble, swirling the currents inside to keep me moving as I raised the sword. I couldn’t really move all that well in my blood, it still had resistance when I pushed through it, but holding the sword ready felt better than doing nothing.

_Something_ shot through the bottom border of my bubble, tearing into it violently and coming out the other side. I looked down, but it was beyond my vision. I knew from my powers it had already left before I had even started to turn my head. I couldn’t communicate via my armband, I had no air to speak with. I had to hope everyone above would notice if something went wrong.

I was still making blood, so I felt the bubble slowly surge outwards, growing. I had a lot of area under my control but blood was largely water. I didn’t like that idea or what it meant if Leviathan really wanted to fuck me over. So far it hadn’t tried to wrest control of my blood, but it had held back before. I heard the armband garble something into the water, completely unintelligible.

My body **cracked.** The hazy dim world tumbled as I spun in the water, trying to reach out to steady myself. Everything hurt and I had to push the pain aside.

Something had just body checked me as it swam by. Not something, there was only one other thing down here. It was a giant fucking Endbringer. My body went like I had been hit by a train while completely unpowered, the suit consuming blood in overdrive to keep everything together. Leviathan had been taunting me with the drive-bys before, the border of my bubble did exactly nothing to stop it.

I felt a claw push into me from behind, spearing through my chest, driving me deeper and deeper as I was rushed downwards. I pulled the blood with me, desperately trying to make it keep up as I was slammed into the hard earthen floor. My head swam from the pain as I tried to resist being crushed against it, arms shaking as I pushed against the floor to hold myself up. My blood was being shredded by massive currents of water, dismantling my protective bubble.

I was in too much pain, too distracted. I could fight one battle, but splitting my focus was losing me both. I had to pick one fight. I let the blood bubble shift to the back of my mind, feeling the water biting into it, throwing it apart. Leviathan’s palm pushed down on my back, trying to crush me and I twisted in the little room I had held, swinging the blade with all my might back towards the base of the fingers.

The black blade cleaved the base of two claws, severing them clean off, and I got a foot underneath the palm. I pushed, feeling muscles pop and strain. Getting just a little more room I got the second foot underneath and was able to push back, the Kamui working at its absolute limit to keep my legs together. I repositioned the blade, ready to cut deeper when the claw suddenly disappeared, a rush of water when it had been.

My blood bubble was completely gone, I could feel bits of it being rapidly pulled in opposite directions and dispersed by the massive currents in the aquifer. I could occasionally feel a disturbance of what I guessed was Leviathan moving through the aquifer around me. My armband lit up the darkness, showing me the mottled, rock surface that was the bed I had been crushed up against and little else.

My breath hitched in my lungs as I felt that uncomfortable pressure increase. I produced more blood, pushing it out around me, but it wasn’t helping, strong currents whipped it away and buffeted me around as I tried. Leviathan wouldn’t even bother to come kill me, it would just do it from a distance.

My lungs started to scream for air and I bit my cheeks, holding my mouth shut. The watery underworld spun as currents threw me about. I needed a plan, something. I couldn’t just sit here. This wasn’t working. Where were Alexandria and the Wards? What had happened to their plan? _Shit._

My lungs burned and I threw my hand over my mouth, trying to physically block it from opening and pulling water in. My nostrils opened and I gagged as water went down into my lungs, pinching my nostrils with my other hand. The inky blackness around me giving no hints, no refuge.

I crashed onto a hard floor suddenly, lungs spasming as I coughed out water and sucked in salty air

A sputtering, coughing voice swore, “Fuck, never make me do that again. Uck...I didn’t think that would even work. God, how did she even survive?”

A man in soaked white robes was standing hunched over, hands on his knees, as he caught his breath. Two others sat in chairs, both cradling their heads like they were in great pain. One was a man, heavyset and twisted with a short scruffy cut. The other a girl, lithe with blond hair in a purple suit with a stylized eye on it.

The girl spoke, opening one eye, “Because, her costume gives her enough durability to be a Brute 7. Eight? And if you hadn’t gotten it right that last time, she’d be dead.”

I laid on the floor, chest heaving as I let my breath return. I felt a rough edge in my chest on the right side, the flesh trying to heal over the severed claw in my chest. I pulled it out with a gasp, chucking it aside as I collapsed again. Everything hurt, even with the Kamui healing me, and my chest burned. I felt tired for the first time since I had triggered the Override. My mind felt like it had been forced through a strainer and pulped.

I rolled my head over, “W-what happened?”

The girl spoke again, wincing as she did, “Hunch and I gave ourselves a giant fucking migraine figuring out exactly how to get Leap here to teleport you out. He missed the first two times, which is why you almost drowned.”

The man, presumably Leap, protested tiredly, “I had to teleport into a featureless fucking underwater th-thingy with a fucking Endbringer in it! My power felt like it was going to backfire the entire time!”

“Did she just pull its fucking hand out of her chest?”

The girl in an oddly cheerful note replied, “Yup.”

He muttered back, “What the fuck.”

Hunch, cradling his head amongst the other chair, mumbled, “You did good. No one else could’ve gotten her out.”

Leap grumbled tiredly as he straightened out, but seemed appeased. I looked to the two capes cradling their heads.

“What about Alexandria and the Wards?”

The girl seemed in better shape to speak, though she also sounded like she simply liked hearing her own voice, “Fine. Leviathan was throwing you around down there too quickly for them to pin you two down with Kid’s tech. She had Labyrinth and a few Shakers ready, but something went wrong I guess, because she called it off awfully fast. We were called in to get your rear out of there when it became clear things weren’t going to work. Which, we did.” A small smug grin between the winces of pain.

I pushed myself to my feet, steeling my body not to shake. I had almost drowned. But I hadn’t, so the fight was still on.

“You can’t kill him. Your best bet is to do your blood thing out in the Bay. It pisses him off and if you do it large enough, it’ll probably draw him out that way. That’ll open up the main emergency routes. Speaking of which, he’s currently destroying those. He’ll try to kill you again, though.” She offered, though just saying so seemed to hurt her. She must’ve used her Thinker powers again despite her condition.

I nodded, “Thanks. Make sure you get out of here safely.” I looked at the beleaguered trio, sitting in the wrecked remains of what I now recognized as the command center. Abandoned except for these three, still coordinating efforts and trying to keep the fight going.

Hunch snorted, “Don’t worry, we will, soon as Leap here is up to it.”

Leap gave a tired thumbs up at that, leaning heavily against one of the few intact wall partitions left and closing his eyes, breathing deeply.

My body ached more than I wanted to let on so I ran out of the command room and into the hallway of the PRT building. The entire building was still doing okay, but it had been battered by several waves and parts were clearly crumbling under the stress. Without the reconstruction from the bombing it would’ve suffered the fate of the surrounding buildings, all of which tilted precariously or were already crumbling.

I took the stairs to the rooftop exit, breaking out into the torrent of rain and the sickly stench of saltwater. I didn’t think I could ever enjoy the beach again after this, the association between today and the ocean was too much. The city out before me was a wreck. The lake that Leviathan had started was twice as wide as before, swallowing entire city blocks are waves lapped and crashed into its rapidly shifting shores. Cars were abandoned in the streets, but there were stragglers rushing through the water filled streets all over, headed inland. Endbringer shelters were being evacuated, taking people from relative safety into the harsh elements in a forced mass evacuation. I saw fliers rushing to group of people, taking them on Tinkertech hovercraft or levitating them as they carried them out of the city.

My armband no longer glowed, something having broken in it after the teleport as it didn’t respond to anything I tried. I took off towards the Bay, generating fresh blood as I did. I couldn’t feel the blood I had left down in the aquifer, it was gone to my power. I reached the coast quickly enough, no sign of Leviathan except for the downpour and the waves that crashed into the shattered skeleton of the Boardwalk. I pushed my blood out into the water, starting to generate small waves in the opposite direction.

The armband crackled to life again, fritzing for a moment. I looked down in surprise. _I guess Dragon made these things really durable._ The armband chirped, blinking as it rebooted. It prompted me to input my name, so I did for the second time.

It rattled off, a bit warped and off-pitch now, “Chevalier down, B-2. Legend deceased, B-2. Panacea down, B-2.”

_B-2....Shit, Leviathan made it to the hospital. They must be making a stand there against him. Legend is dead though?_ I sucked air in, feeling sadness mixing in. He had always seemed so upstanding and charismatic. Losing him was truly a black mark for the day alongside the loss of Brockton Bay. From what little I had seen of the man, I could only assume he had gone in over his head to try and save Panacea. She was a high priority asset as the world’s best parahuman healer.

I was steadily beating back the waves as I poured blood out into the water. I felt the tiredness build as I strained the Kamui to assist me and to heal the damage from the disastrous attempt to fight in the aquifer.

The crimson waves crashed against the stormy gray ones. I couldn’t repel the ocean, but I wasn’t planning to. Leviathan was sinking the city, but I was willing to bet he would pull another tidal wave. Something to swamp the city and kill off a lot of the civilians trying to escape.

“Eidolon down, B-2. Markiplier deceased, B-2. Strapping Lad deceased, B-2. Clockblocker down, B-2. Parian down, B-2.”

The Wards must still be fighting. I hoped the transformations would be enough. I had quite a large pool of blood stretching across the coast now and I saw the tidal wave surge in the distance. The horizon had a shimmering quality to it, pushing up instead of down. A massive wall of water was slowly rising as it approached. _Holy shit. It must a hundred feet tall, if not more. He’s planning to crush the city from above and sink it in._

I pressed my armband, triggering the override, “Massive wave incoming, get out now. I’m going to try and stop it, but don’t bet on it.”

Dragon’s voice responded back, “Roger. All combatants evacuate city premise. Movers are being dispatched to your locations. ETA - 2 minutes and 30 seconds.”

_Two minutes? That...must be very big if I can see it from here then. I’m going to need more blood._

I heard a crash behind me and I whipped around. Before me the long form of Leviathan stalked across the destroyed Boardwalk. Its surface pitted and charred from our efforts, massive gashes torn into the shoulders and thighs. It was missing one hand and most of its tail, its head caved in on one side. Ichor dripped down it, but its injuries didn’t change anything. It watched me with the three asymmetrical eyes and I held the sword up, facing it. As it stalked slowly around water sloshed off its back, its deadly echo waiting for me.

We were on land now, and while it was still incredibly fast, it wasn’t the same one-sided fight that the water battle had been. I watched as I made sure to keep pouring blood out behind me. Tidal waves were massive forces of nature, I didn’t know if I could hit it hard enough to weaken it, but I would try.

We stood in a standoff, neither attacking. Leviathan simply watched as it paced.

I didn’t like that much at all. It had only ever waited when it was beneficial for it. I was getting tired though, and the break wasn’t entirely unwelcome.

I saw two figures approaching from the city, quickly resolving into two figures each holding another. It must be the Wards. I can’t let them down, I can’t let them down. Everyone is relying on me. My armband chirped at me.

Vista’s voice came through, clearly tired, “Ichor, we have a plan. We’ll build a barrier to protect the city if you and Aegis can hold off Leviathan until the wave hits.”

I spoke into the armband, not moving my eyes off Leviathan, who stills talked back and forth, wounds filling in slowly as it did. “What about everyone else?”

Aegis replied, “We’ve told Dragon. They’re acting under the assumption we’ll fail, but if we succeed it could buy valuable time for more people to escape. Every little bit can save people.”

They flew around the Endbringer, giving it a large berth and dropping off down the beach. I tightened my grip on the sword. Anything we stopped could save hundreds. Every second we distracted Leviathan could save more. I felt the reserves of my power, sensing a bottom rapidly approaching.

I have to go before I’m sucked dry, running on fumes.

_Everyone is counting on us to slow him down. I already failed them by not stopping Leviathan sooner, I can’t fail here. I can’t-I can’t-Ican’t-Ican’t-Ican’tIcan’t-_

“Acknowledged.” I rallied myself, pushing away at the building fatigue. I pulled some blood with me and used my enhanced speed to leap forward at the Endbringer. It jerked forward, juking left to send a water echo at me while it flanked. I bounced off the sand, redirecting to swing my sword into the sweeping digitigrade foot that hooked at me, leaning back to dodge the lashing tail that swept overhead a split second later. Blood bounced up from the sand to collide with the tail, stopping the echo it tried to whip at my side.

I shouted in anger and exasperation, “Die already!”

I brought the blade up for a strike and feinted, kicked out at the weakened leg from earlier, feeling a crunch as it dented from the blow. Spinning to avoid the retaliatory blow, I landed back in the sand, braced for the next flurry. Leviathan darted around me, water echoes filling the space on the beach as they rushed from multiple angles. I dashed between them, throwing blood up in one direction to make an opening I didn’t take. Leviathan didn’t fall for the feint, blocking my path with its body. I dove beneath, kicked a rut into the sand as I slid between its legs. In the side of my vision, I saw the Wards working at a frantic pace.

Kid Win was using the tools on his costume to rapidly fabricate small drones that moved out, expanded into a thin wall, and then interlocked with the previous ones. His hands were a blur as he worked, drones spitting out at breakneck speed. Clockblocker was running with a wicked limp down the lines of drones, tagging them with his power. He ran along a piece of costume Vista had extend, warping it with her power so he could move faster.

Leviathan jerked to the side, headed for them and crashed into Aegis, who stood some fifteen feet tall. He seemed to jerk up another foot as the Endbringer crashed into him, grappling it back. Leviathan brutally smacked its tail into him repeatedly. He bore the hits, jerking up a few inches in size with each hit.

“Hit me you giant lizard!”

I couldn’t let my friends just get beaten on, even if Aegis seemed to be pulling a Lung and growing from it. I moved behind Leviathan, dodging a kick as Aegis prevented the Endbringer from pulling away. Leaping I drove my sword into its shoulder and ratcheted it, trying to saw through the flesh. Leviathan head-butted Aegis, sending him reeling back and dashed. For a moment I was being pulled through its water echo, holding onto the sword determinedly. I wrenched it free and disengaged.

Leviathan rushed for Aegis again, who stood between it and the increasingly large barrier the Wards were building. The tidal wave was closing in, looming madly in the decreasing distance. Aegis tried to grapple the Endbringer a second time, but stumbled as the tail swiped his legs out and the Endbringer rushed past. I pulled a wave of blood from the ocean and threw it at the Endbringer, trusting the Wards to stop the tidal wave without me at this point. Without my blood I wouldn’t be able to suppress the Endbringer.

_Keep moving. You can hold out for another minute._

Leviathan dove through the blood and I felt it lurch and pull. It moved sluggishly, like it wasn’t fully under my control and I looked in horror. Leviathan was trying to control the blood directly.

My blood ran cold at the sudden thought.

I felt the control slipping from me and I pushed back as hard as I could, demanding the blood buffet and break the creature. Blood rushed from the sea and surroundings, overwhelming it in a spiralling fury. Blood welled up in a massive vortex as it spiralled down, gaining momentum as it crashed upon the Endbringer. Sanguine streams pounded against its flesh, tried to pierce and expand and break. Thousands of liters pushing the Endbringer back from them until I could get in closer. I dispersed the blood towards the Boardwalk and slid forward, hacking at Leviathan’s weakened ankle. Better to lose it than to have it use it against us. We can’t afford to give it another weapon.

My blade hit true, the weakened joint finally severing after the focus fire it had suffered since almost the beginning. Leviathan crashed forward as physics dictated it must, something I hadn’t entirely bet on. It spun on the ground, tail and claw swinging for me. I felt the claw crash into me as I dug the blade into its wrist, bones cracking as it did. I refused to cry out, teeth ground hard to cut off any cry of pain. My blood spilled out of the wounds in my arm as they re-stitched themselves slower than before. I could feel my exhaustion getting to me. The Kamui took will to use and I had been going for so long now.

I brought the streams of blood back around, pounding down on the fallen Endbringer from above to push it down into the bloodied sand.

Aegis dove on the Endbringer, trying to pin it to the ground with his size at this point. Still smaller than Endbringer, he gave it a good show. The two devolved into a wrestling match for a moment as Leviathan tried to throw Aegis off after its attempts to spear him in the gut failed. The skirmish between them was brutal and fast, quick clawing movements and jabs, oddly reminiscent of honey badgers or other small mammals fighting. Did Aegis like badgers? Should I get him one?

_That’s the concussion kicking in...one of them. We’re out of time._

I tried to negotiate past the whipping tail as I heard Clockblocker shout.

“Wave! We’re outta time!”

Well then.

The barrier they had assembled was impressive. A huge wall of tinkertech, frozen in time, blocking the center of the Boardwalk and towering high. Vista stood behind it, expanding the borders out in each direction, left unfrozen just so she could do that. She stretched them down the coast, devoid of people as it was at this point.

The wave crashed down on the wall, towering over the top edge of it. Water rushed over the top and Kid Win and Clockblocker surrounded Vista, protecting her from the crash of water that spilled over. Panels of tinkertech crashed and popped out, letting gushes of water through as Clockblocker’s power had unfortunately run out early on them. The unfrozen borders made through Missy’s power bent at the rush, water flowing back was it was stopped before they crumpled and broke, warping as they shattered.

The wave surged past on the fringes, swamping the city as it did. The skeleton of the Boardwalk folded and fell, being swept away in the great surge as it pushed westward. The main barrier, however, held miraculously. The bulk of the wave’s energy had been spent when it collided with the immovable barrier. The surge still rushed into the city, but nowhere near the height that it would’ve had they not been here. The difference between a fifteen foot surge and a seventy plus foot surge was the difference between the coastal side of the city flooding and the remnants of the city foundations cracking and it sinking into the aquifer with everyone who was still here.

_I couldn’t have done it without them. Leviathan would never have let me pool enough blood. We managed to buy time for the evacuation. Now just to survive._

Water surging over the walls crashed over Aegis and myself, unprotected by the small shelter Kid Win had erected for Vista, Clockblocker, and himself. I saw Leviathan throw Aegis off as soon as the water hit us, diving into the surge. My power flagged as I struggled against the surge, pushing myself to the surface. The tidal surge moved like an unstoppable river, even Brute ratings paled in comparison to an ocean moving at you. Even if it was relatively shallow compared to Leviathan’s goal.

A claw wrapped around my legs, pulling me into the surge. I opened my eyes in the rush of water, getting a single glance before they were buffeted closed again. A pitted and scarred figure, three glowing hateful eyes, staring at me. I never got the impression it had emotions before, but it looked angry.

_Well fuck you too, I’ve been angry for awhile._

The jolt of fear replaced with righteous fury as I collected my blood in the tidal surge and pushed back, splitting the stream and calming the flow around us. Leviathan squeezed and I felt my legs strain painfully. I jammed the sword into its wrist, I had taken one hand off, I could do another. The tail whipped up and my neck snapped to the side, my head ringing and the world spinning as I felt the muscles strain.

Suddenly there was a crash and I was heaved out of the rapids. Aegis was lifting the Endbringer, in turn pulling me out of the water in its grasp. It tried to swing me at Aegis and I ratcheted the blade with the momentum, scoring a deep cut into its wrist. I was flung free suddenly, crashing into a soft but firm pad.

Missy stood above me, grabbing me and helping lift me to my feet. She had caught me on a stretched portion of her costume, holding us above the water.

I coughed some water out. “Thanks.”

She pursed her lips and looked at me grimly, “We need to get out of here.”

I nodded back, looking at Clockblocker. He was supported by Kid Win a bit further back.

_If it thinks it can kill me, it will. But it’s spent this entire time holding back. Why? To demoralize us. So it can pull out a new trick every time we think we’re winning. It will kill me, but it’ll want to show it off. That’s our chance._

“Vista, warp my sword. Clock, last second freeze.”

I didn’t wait for confirmation that I didn’t need. I knew Missy. We had watched anime together, she had come up with the idea that saved both of us, we were friends. She would do her best and that would be enough. I knew Dennis, we had had awkward dinner together. He made stupid jokes and I stubbornly refused to laugh.

I bounced off pools of blood that well to the surface of the surge, directed bursts keeping my footfalls from sinking in and launching me forward. I pulled the last of my power out, feeling the suit start to run dry as I had exhausted it.

Leviathan dashed for me, moving ungodly fast and I tried to return the blow. I felt flesh part as the tail scored my stomach. We both landed, turning on our heels and dashing back again. A feint this time, its water echo blasting for me while it came from the side. I dodged the side-blow, feeling an unseen and separate tail echo knock my legs out from behind.

The Endbringer leapt for me, claws spearing down. I raised the sword up.

_Moment of truth._

The blade warped in size, extending up to meet the Endbringer.

I saw Dennis suddenly appear on Vista’s platform; the sword froze in time.

Leviathan tried to burst and twist to the side using its echo, my blood crashed into it, keeping it on course for the millisecond attempt.

It crashed onto the blade, the blade driving through and out the other side. I felt my breathing restart as it worked. The Endbringer squirmed on the blade, stuck on the insanely long blade about halfway down; the blade pierced its chest through the center.

_ Come on...That’s got to do it._

Leviathan tore at itself, wriggling on the blade. It forced its own flesh against the blade, driving it to one side, injuring itself horribly. Ichor seeped down the blade in heavy rolls. The Endbringer tore itself free, the gash that went through it now extending across the torso all the way to one side. It dived into the water as it got free, disappearing underneath the surge.

I felt large hands scoop me up, looking up through the rain to see Aegis cradling me. He knelt, back against the rain as he protected me, holding me above it. He was steadily shrinking without the Endbringer abusing him, but I felt safe in his arms.

I let the mental fatigue that had been building finally push past the barriers I had put up. My Kamui returned to normal and I felt the darkness that I hadn’t noticed building on the edges of my vision take me.

A voice spoke softly through the darkness, “Please try not to overwork yourself, Taylor.”

A second voice, coughing out wet words, “I fucking hate," -another lung-clearing cough- "underwater levels.”

The sound of a groan and I smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes: That’s the end of Arc 1! That’s it! What are you still doing here? It’s over, go home.
> 
> What happened to the rest of the Undersiders, Coil, Noelle, Faultline's Crew, and New Wave? What will be the fate of Brockton Bay? Why did I introduce Bonesaw so early if the S9 never showed up? Next time, on Dragonball Z!


	14. Omake: A Very Merry Brockton Bay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original Christmas Special. Semi-canon, but largely not. Skip if you want, it's not part of the main story.

### Omake: A Very Merry Brockton Bay

  
  
Dauntless was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Colin signed it: and Colin's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Dauntless was as dead as a door-nail.  
  
Colin wasn’t sure what was particularly dead about a door-nail, as opposed to say, any other inanimate object, but he supposed idioms just worked that way. The original meaning lost to time as the words took on a life of their own.  
  
Colin knew he was dead. Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Colin and he were partners for he didn't know how many years. Seven years. Colin was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole boss, his sole competition, his sole rival and sole confidant. And even Colin was so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, surprised at how much he had respected Dauntless at the end.  
  
Now Colin was a man people greeted on the street. They asked for his autograph or a moment of his time. Colin wished it were otherwise in some respects. He knew the importance of good PR, of being a hero to the people, but he also was always aiming for loftier goals. He would’ve preferred to edge his way around the crowded paths of life, but it was not a thing that a good hero would do. It’s not something Robin would’ve done.  
  
There was a knock upon the door and he hobbled his way to the entrance of his makeshift workshop. He had lost his legs, but that had only been an excuse to make better, more efficient prosthetic legs. Prosthetic legs which didn’t handle cold particularly well yet, he had quickly learned.  
  
“A merry Christmas, Armsmaster!” cried a cheerful voice. It was Kid Win, one of his many responsibilities.  
  
“Kid Win? It’s July,” said Armaster.  
  
“July, Armsmaster?” said Kid Win. “You don’t mean that, right?”  
  
“I do,” said Armsmaster. “Command? I need Master-Stranger Protocols at my workstation, Kid Win is acting highly abnormal.”  
  
“Come now!” returned Kid Win. “What’s got you in such a funk? Why don’t you just enjoy the season? The air has a nice chill.”  
  
Colin read the thermostat on his visor, it was 10 C. He commed command again.  
  
“Command, update, local thermal anomaly. Requesting immediate backup.”  
  
His comms buzzed back, “Armsmaster, don’t be a humbug!”  
  
Armsmaster shut the door in Kid Win’s face and started to barricade it. There was a rattle of chains and a frightful roar from the other side of his workshop. A deep clanking noise as if someone were dragging a great chain along the ground. The ghost of Dauntless, draped in countless chains, grew out of the wall across from him.  
  
Armsmaster grabbed his halberd.  
  
  


\---

You know Ichor and Aegis and Dauntless and Danny,  
you know Hannah and Halo and Kaiser and Kreig,  
But do you recall,  
The most famous parahuman of all

Parian the Mysterious Master  
Had a very weak power  
And if you ever saw it  
You would even say it sucks  
All of the other engis  
Used to laugh and call her names  
They never let poor Parian  
Join in any engineer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve,  
Legend came to say,  
Parian with your powers of might,  
Won't you kill Behemoth tonight

Then how all the capes loved her,  
As they shouted out with glee,  
Parian the Mysterious Master,  
You'll go down in history

Parian the Mysterious Master  
Had a very weak power  
And if you ever saw it  
You would even say it sucks  
All of the other engis  
Used to laugh and call her names  
They never let poor Parian  
Join in any engineer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve,  
Legend came to say,  
Parian with your powers of might,  
Won't you kill Behemoth tonight

Then how all the capes loved her,  
As they shouted out with glee,  
Parian the Mysterious Master,  
You'll go down in history

\---

Every cape down in Brockton liked Christmas a lot...

But Circus, who lived just north of Brockton, did not!

Circus hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

It could be her head wasn't screwed on just right.

It could be, perhaps, that his hat was too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his pants were two sizes too small.

But, whatever the reason, her hat or his pants, he stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the capes.

Staring down from his flat with a sour, Circus frown at the warm lighted windows below in their town. For he knew every cape down in Brockton beneath was busy now, hanging a mistletoe wreath.

“I must stop this whole thing from coming! I’ve put up with it for twenty-three years! I simply must stop this Christmas from coming...but how?”

Circus paced around their lair, plotting and planning and scheming and concocting. They had a brilliant idea, it was just right. They would take on the guise of Saint Nicholas tonight! Descending on the town in the dark, they abscond with everyone’s presents, it’d be a lark. All they needed was a reindeer, but since reindeer aren’t found in Brockton, they were scare. That didn’t stop Circus though, who spied from their vantage a sad looking pair.

“If I can’t find reindeer I’ll simply make some!” Circus proclaimed and descended on the pair with hammer and flame.

Circus took Uber and Leet and tied them up with some red thread. Getting a few fur coats and an antler racked strapped to their heads. They loaded some bags up to a ramshackle sled and hitched it up to old Uber and Leet.

"On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall. Now, dash away, dash away all!”

“Uber what the fuck is she on about?”

“I don’t know Leet, just run!”

\---

The Gift of the Triumvirate

Alexandria was out and about on the town. She had millions, billions even, but not a single cent would help her now. What did you get for the man who could make anything, be anything? It was an impossible task. She rushed from shop to shop, from LA to NYC, all hoping to spy something perfect for him. Damn Legend and his proposal for a Christmas party. With him gone, they couldn’t not do it now.

But what did one get Eidolon? The man had no hobbies, no life beyond heroing. Neither did she, but his power was literally whatever he needed. He would never want for anything. She could get him a PS3, he would like that, right? She texted one of his Wards. No, he apparently already had a PS3. Of course he did.

She couldn’t ask Contessa for a Path to Perfect Gifts, it wouldn’t be in the mood of the season. No, she had to do it herself, even if it went against all reason. The clock was ticking and with each minute Christmas came closer, she was in it to win it. Stores closed, first on the East Coast, then starting on the West.

She was running out of time, soon nothing would be open on the continent! She didn’t have time to get RMB to shop in China, she needed something now. She pursued every shop: jewelers, grocers, bakeries, game stores, hobby shops, clothiers. Until at last she spied what might be the perfect gift. Shoving over a handful of cash she flew off into the sky, heedless of her change.

-

  
Eidolon was browsing Amazon, hoping to god he could find something for Alexandria. He could manifest any power in existence and he had three Thinker powers running. What would a woman who was immune to anything on Earth want? He couldn’t give her hair products or skin creams, nor perfume. He suspected the massage chair was even more useless to her, despite its claims of intense settings.

His Thinker powers reminded him that Amazon wouldn’t deliver within five hours and he was off in a flash, teleporting into downtown to get some cash. A quick ATM visit and only a moment later and he was out on the town, ready to get a gift to placate her.

He couldn’t ask Contessa for help, he was Eidolon! He could manage to do this, even if gift-giving gave him anxiety. People always expected amazing gifts from him. He was Eidolon after all. He couldn’t just get an iTunes gift-card for someone and call it a day.

Stores started to close and he teleported again, a time-zone away. Another hour passed and his panic grew. He teleported further, slowly circling the globe in pursuit of the perfect retail store. He discarded possibilities, all physical objects which held no point for her. Finally he found something she could enjoy. She may not have much touch left, but she had sight and sound. One overpriced exchange later and he was off in a burst of excitement, cradling the gift.

-

  
Eidolon stared at his gift and pushed out a smile. “Oh, wow. Uh. Thanks Rebecca, it’s great. I’ll never have to worry about opening stuff again.” He rotated the swiss-army knife in his hands. It was top of the line, featuring over thirty different gadgets.

Alexandria looked down at hers. The large package had been unwrapped and a large TV sat before her. “I’m glad you like it. Thanks for the TV…”

Eidolon piped up, “It’s one of those new 3D TVs, so you can watch everything in high detail!”

She brushed her hair over one eye unconsciously, “Oh! That’s, uh, that’s great.”

They sat there in awkward silence for half a minute. A knock on the door surprised them both and in burst Legend, two gifts in his arms.

“You two are ridiculous! No one should look so sad on Christmas.” He said full of cheer.

They looked at each other, stunned. He handed them each a gift, which they unwrapped with curiosity and caution.

He looked to the gifts they had exchanged, “Wow, you guys really went overboard. Hehe, sorry if you’re disappointed. I got you both edible arrangements. Who doesn’t like fruit and chocolate, right?”

Alexandria and Eidolon wiped a tear from their eyes, both speaking in time, “It’s perfect.”

“Hey, it’s not Christmas without your friends, right?”

\---

“So you’re telling me that at 17:25 EST a sudden and profound Shaker/Stranger effect blanketed the whole of Brockton Bay and the refugee camp outside it?”

“Yes Sir.”

“It was reported by Armsmaster, which lead to Alexandria being called in, who then proceeded to call in Eidolon.”

“Yes Sir.”

“At which point we lost all contact for twelve hours, got satellite reports of localized temperature drops and snowfall, and then got full communication resumption the following morning. And during the night apparently Armsmaster fought three ghosts, the Wards re-enacted a Charlie Brown Christmas, Circus committed a serial spree of thefts and then returned everything, Panacea went on a quest to find her real family while dressed as an Elf, Parian made giant reindeer, and the Triumvirate held a Christmas party?”

“Yes Sir.”

“...tentative name Saint Nick, classification Shaker 10 Stranger 5, under the assumption that the Stranger effect is a byproduct of the Shaker effect. Top Secret classification and we are to never speak of this again.”

“Yes Sir.”


	15. Chapter 10: I Want to Know More About You

### Chapter 10: I Want to Know More About You

My eyes opened slowly, gingerly feeling out the world as my head throbbed. I remembered waking up before. Aegis and Kid Win had evacuated us, I had been lucid enough to consent to healing, give a brief field report, and then collapse into sleep. I had awoken a second time, given a bit more detail, and then succumbed to the beating migraine.  
  
Today was better. Today my brain didn’t feel like it was being pulled through a soup strainer, liquified and boiled. The light was offensive, but only because of my inexperience to it, not because my head could no longer handle it. I looked around to remind myself of where I had ended up.  
  
A tent in a field of tents. The massive refugee camp that was set up on the outskirts of Brockton Bay following the disaster in the city. I didn’t know how much of the city was intact or what the plan was. I needed to get up and get to work. I sat up in bed, swinging my legs off the bed and _woah nelly the world is spinning, back down back down._  
  
I felt my head calm as the spinning receded at returning to bed. _ Is this the price I have to pay for overriding the suit? I think I understand Thinker headaches a bit better now. Damn, how do they live like this?_ I groaned quietly as I schooled my rising nausea and tried again.  
  
_Up Taylor, get up. You’re no good sitting in bed. Need to find out where things are at right now. _ I swung my legs off the bed and tried to stand, legs shaky underneath me. My balance failed critically and the world swung sideways. I threw a hand out, grabbing onto the small trunk that was next to my cot. I leaned over it, suppressing my dry heave and sputtering a bit.  
  
_Progress. All progress._ I managed to get myself up straight and worked my way to the edge of the tent. A coat rack had been lodged into the ground, a coat and a red domino mask hung off it. Grabbing the red domino mask I slipped it on, noticing the sweat pants and Miss Militia hoodie I was dressed in. Guess they had wanted me to be comfortable while I rested. Well, hopefully I wouldn’t be meeting anyone important before I found where my costume was.  
  
It made sense in a way. Why leave my costume, certainly something valuable unlike most spandex suits, with me while I was unconscious? It could’ve been stolen fairly easily and there would certain be reason to do so. Still, I felt naked without it.  
  
Lifting the flap of the tent, I made my way outside and squinted into the glare of the sun. Looking around I saw rows of tents, small colored flags raised above them to indicate some kind of order. People milled about everywhere, a fair numbered costumed or masked in some way even though days had passed. _People who needed longer to recover? Some might’ve remained to help with clean-up efforts too. Still, best to be careful with this many unknown capes around._  
  
I made my way down the street, I guess it qualified as a street, slowly and methodically. _ Look casual, take your time, don’t show that you definitely want to puke._ Looking around gave me little indication of where to go. The color code was definitely there, but that didn’t help without a key. I was in a blue row. Good to know.  
  
I wandered down a few rows on what seemed to be a fairly central path. Blue, blue, blue, white, red, red...Okay, so sections of some sort. I paused, the world was wheeling around me as the dizziness came back with avengeance. I tried to steady myself only to find that a tent city has very few solid objects worth steadying myself on.  
  
A supporting arm came out of the blackness of my peripheral vision, giving me stability and a soothing female voice to my side.  
  
“Woah there tiger. First time dealing with a Thinker headache, huh? Well, hmm...not Thinker per-say but pretty close. Still sucks, just take it easy.”  
  
I nodded slowly, taking a second to center my head again before I looked up at my support. The girl from before, the blonde in the purple suit with the stylized eye.  
  
I spoke with with the quick recognition, “You’re one of the Thinkers that pulled me out.”  
  
She gave a shooting gesture with her fingers, “Got it in one. Annnnd you’re the girl of the hour. Not many people can give Leviathan a new hole to shit from. What’re you doing over here?”  
  
I paused, “I was trying to get my bearings.”  
  
She nodded knowingly, “Ah. Well you were in blue, which is for heroes. Red is for villains. Lotta folks still recovering since Leviathan did a number on ‘em. Why so many left days later? We lost a few of the healing capes in the hospital fight. Panacea even took a pretty bad hit, so for all but the worst cases it’s good old conventional meds.”  
  
I mentally followed the chain of conversation, seeing the red flags around. The girl cut me off before I could speak.  
  
“Am I villain? Yup. Couldn’t just watch the city get trashed though, could I?”  
  
My brain raced as the realization hit that a villain had played a very crucial role in saving my life. I knew that not all villains were on the level of the Slaughterhouse Nine, but it still acted as a bit of a shock.  
  
“Why?”  
  
She smirked, “Well villain doesn’t mean that I’m pure evil. Really it just means I’m not a hero. Think about it, there’s very few rogues or independents out there. The PRT is plenty happy to shove anyone who isn’t with them into the category of being against them.”  
  
I leaned off of her, supporting myself again, “Why not become a hero then if you’re not so bad?”  
  
She shrugged, “It doesn’t really appeal to me for a lot of reasons. One is that the PRT is hardly as heroic as it pretends to be. Bit harder to ignore when you can read minds.” She tapped the side of her head knowingly.  
  
I thought back to Sophia, to the handling of everything I went through, to Piggot’s cold cutting words for failure. Even to the lack of results regarding my Dad’s killer and their willingness to abandon the city in the end.  
  
“Yeah. I can get that.”  
  
She raised her eyebrows, gaze shifting from amusement to a harder look. I felt like she was studying me.  
  
“Tattletale, by the way. Glad to see you got out of that shithole.”  
  
I extended a hand, “Ichor. Thanks for saving me.”  
  
She took it, giving it a shake before returning to her clinical study of me. She spoke a bit more slowly, words carrying more weight, “So was you getting left solo to get fucked a mistake or intentional then?”  
  
I paused, the memory of Alexandria commanding the Wards to follow her as I worked in the dark rain alone rose to the surface of my mind. Never had the thought occurred to me that she might have been anything but honest with me. Why would she leave me behind, after all? Getting me killed didn’t make any sense after all. It was silly.  
  
If she didn’t want to get me killed, why’d she leave a Ward alone in an Endbringer fight then? At the time I had agreed to it, but in retrospect...Would I have expected a Ward to be able to handle an Endbringer on their own?  
  
I sucked in a breath between my teeth. Tattletale spoke, stopping me from having to search for words.  
  
“Not sure? I get that. Pretty sure my boss was trying to fuck me over too. Pretty sure he’s dead though, so I’ve got that going for me. He was also an actual villain, so a bit better than if your bosses bit the dust.”  
  
I looked at her, shoving my doubts to the side for the moment. “Dead?”  
  
She nodded, “Dead or ghosted. Either way is good for me.”  
  
I hummed lightly to myself, looking the serious yet smug girl over. She was a self-professed villain, but she didn’t come off as evil. She came off as dis-illusioned. Something I could seriously understand, given my dealings with the PRT. She had even stayed after the command center had been evacuated, working to save my life. She may not be a hero, but it was hard for me to write her off as a villain either.  
  
What was her deal? She had been employed by someone and it hadn’t been a happy relationship. A bigger villain perhaps? Someone she had worked with who had turned nasty maybe. It was hard to tell much other than that she was happy he was gone. She was a free agent which meant there was an opportunity here. Maybe she was a villain, corrupted to the core, but here was a chance to direct her skillset to a better purpose.  
  
I looked around, we had gone largely unnoticed in the busy tent city. There were far more pressing matters than two teenage girls stopping to chat.  
  
With a lowered voice I asked, “Would you like a new career opportunity?”  
  
  


\---

I waded through hip deep water, peering into the shadowed crevices and murky spots. Supposedly the chances of recovering anyone successfully after 48 hours were pretty dismal, but I wasn’t going to just abandon that tiny percentage that could still make it. Dennis travelled alongside me, staying above the water by using the frozen platforms he could create to skip between piles of rubble. He had a good excuse, his leg was still healing and wading through water mixed with sewage and corpses would be a pretty bad idea. Panacea had been unwell. If not for Scapegoat she would’ve lost use of everything below the hip from the injury she took and it had apparently shaken her fairly badly. A few members of New Wave hadn’t survived to boot, which couldn’t have helped.

We weren’t even close to the Boardwalk yet, which was dozens of feet underwater by now, so there were still some places above the waters reach. Aegis floated to the other side, checking underneath rubble that looked like it could create a trapped space. I turned as I heard a bit of a choking sound from him. Beside some freshly shifted rubble he was holding his nose and determinedly looking away from what he had uncovered. Another tomb then.

I spoke up to distract him, “Hey Aegis. Help me move this.” I gestured to a larger piece of concrete that had pushed down into a storefront. I could’ve moved it myself, but it was good to give Aegis a distraction what he had just seen. We had seen a lot of bodies and not a lot of survivors so far.

Aegis floated over with a nod to me, “Sorry, yeah. Sure thing.”

I watched as Aegis pushed the concrete up, performing the routine search underneath as he held the slab up for me. Crushed and rotting food, broken tchotchkes, bits and bobs floating in fetid water. A sight I had seen a hundred times in our attempts to find any stragglers. And we had found a few, despite all odds. Desperate people who had hidden and survived against all odds. A few triggers who had managed to get just the right power to endure the waves and exposure.

But we had seen hundreds more who hadn’t. The simple reality was that Brockton Bay was a graveyard now. Bloated corpses slowly floated to the surface days after Leviathan left, new ones appearing every day. I had to work to stop myself from gagging the first few times I had entered the more wasted parts of the city. Now it was just a smell that I barely noticed, it clung to me from spending days sifting through the murky waters. I could safely search where many couldn’t, especially with how many Brutes we had lost. What good was I if I didn’t make up for that with my own efforts?

The wreck that was Brockton Bay loomed all around me. And yet. I didn’t find myself feeling that upset. The sight of the dead still made me gag a little, but the corpse that was the city evoked almost nothing. I felt numb to it. Why? Why couldn’t I bring myself to care about the city where I had lived for my entire life?

_It was my home, but it wasn’t my heart. Mom and Dad were my heart. Brockton Bay was just the broken city that they lived in. Dad would’ve been broken and hurt by the loss of the city. It was his project. He had always wanted to revitalize it back to how he remembered it. But it was never that way for me. I never knew the golden age of Brockton Bay. I wanted to fix it for Dad, even if he was gone, but it was never **my **dream. _

My dream was to help the people of Brockton Bay, the ones who suffered from the oppressive gangs and crumbling infrastructure. And I had done that, to a degree. Our stand against Leviathan had allowed thousands more to evacuate than would’ve otherwise and reduced the wave enough to prevent the city from completely sinking. Rescue efforts for the first two days had recovered thousands more. As long as I managed to save the people, I could push forwards.

I placed a hand on a crumbling corner of what had once been a cornerstore, feeling the uneven and broken concrete under my glove. In a sense, it felt like a goodbye to Brockton Bay for me. A moving on to something more abstract; the idea of saving people over simply protecting a place that had people. My final act for Brockton Bay had been saving its passengers from its sinking ship.

I felt okay with that.

“Hey. Ichor. Ichor!”

I snapped back to the moment at the sound of Clockblocker’s steadily more insistent shouting.

“What?”

Clock stopped on the exposed second floor to a building, cocking his head a bit, “You alright? You looked spaced out.”

I gave a bit of a small smile to him, “I’m fine. Just was thinking about the city.”

He sat down on the broken edge, legs dangling around juts of rebar, “Yeah, I get that. We both grew up here. Weird to see it go.”

I nodded, pushing through the water to find somewhere dry to stand. “Yeah. You doing okay?”

Clockblocker patted his leg with some gusto, “It’s coming along! Though I’m sad I won’t get to use all the limp jokes I thought up.”

He was avoiding the topic and he knew it. I softened my voice just a little, “You know what I mean.”

He looked down between his legs, silent for a moment. I started to worry I had pushed too hard on the subject before he suddenly spoke, “Yeah. I’m actually okay, you know?”

I waited, watching patiently for him to continue.

“Like...I had kinda come to terms with it a few weeksc ago. He was always in and out of remission and we always knew he was getting worse. And a few weeks ago...it just kinda clicked that it wasn’t so much an if as a when. And that when was soon. So...yeah. I’m doing okay. I almost feel bad for how well I’m doing. Like he’s gonna pop out of the wall as a ghost and be like, ’Dennis, you’re not grieving nearly enough!’”

“-Dennis, I’m disappointed in you!” A booming voice roared out from behind him, sending Clockblocker wheeling forward off the edge. He twisted mid-air, trying to reach for his discs as he crashed into the water with a splash.

Above him, standing where he had sat, was Aegis standing tall with a proud grin across his face. Dennis popped out of the water a second later, sputtering.

“-Oh god I can taste it through my mask! Aegis, you dick!” He shouted before devolving into laughter. Aegis quickly followed, bent over laughing. I found myself chuckling a little bit at the sight of the two of them. Aegis had an impressively spot-on old man impression from that demonstration.

We may have been in the broken remains of a shattered city, but being there with my friends made it all a bit more bearable. They wouldn’t get such a sappy idea out of me, but it was still true.

\---

I looked around the cramped tent as I waited. Like many of the command tents it was cramped with paperwork, stacks of it overflowing everywhere and invading uncluttered surfaces. The woman I was waiting for came through the entrance, pushing heavy tent flaps aside. She was dressed in all black, a costume with few frills and reminiscent of what a spy might wear.

She spoke in a sultry voice which put me off balance, “Nice to meet you Ichor. I’m Undercover. The PRT brought me in to assess you after your fight with Leviathan.”

I nodded a bit, “Nice to meet you. I wasn’t told exactly what’s being assessed…?”

She pulled a chair over and sat down across from me, “Well, a few things, but primarily the cause of your sudden change in powers. Are you familiar with second triggers?”

I rolled my shoulders a bit, “Somewhat. I know of Narwhal, but that’s about it.”

Undercover smiled, “That’s fine. Second triggers are exactly what the name implies. A person has a second trigger event and gains new powers or greater ability with their previous ones. The burning question-”

“-Is whether I’ve had a second trigger.”

“Exactly.”

I answered bluntly, “No. I haven’t.”

Undercover quirked an eyebrow up, “Huh. You believe that quite strongly too I see. What makes you think that though?”

A frowned creased my face as I thought through my response, “My new power didn’t come from me. The suit I use converts my blood to power it and it wasn’t until then that I realized how to fully control that. Once I did...well, I realized the suit had a lot more power to it.”

The heroine looked thoughtful, pondering my statement for a moment. “Mm, well my power is telling me that’s accurate as far as you know. From what we know, second triggers tend to be as traumatic, if not worse, than the original trigger. Does that fit your experience at all?”

I shook my head again, “No. If I hadn’t been able to save my friends...then yes, probably. The fight sucked and I was hurting, but it wasn’t as bad as my trigger. It wasn’t similar either.”

She gave a small noise of consideration before continuing, “I see. Well then, it would seem that you really didn’t have a second trigger.”

With a bit of an eye-roll, “That’s what I’ve been saying.”

Undercover chuckled, “Well the PRT doesn’t just trust capes to self-report, otherwise they’d be out of a job. However, I think this will be pretty open and shut. Officially, we’ll be explaining it as you having a second trigger naturally. It’s something that already exists and the public narrative is already shaping around that assumption.”

That didn’t sit well with me. If they agreed that I hadn’t had a second trigger then why lie to the public about it? What motivation-_actually, wait. I can just ask._

I folded my arms, “Why lie?”

Undercover put her palms facing up, “It’s simple. A complex explanation of your powers is both harder to explain and gives away critical information about your limits. It’s also elegant for PR. There’s a dozen ways this could be spun, varying degrees of good or bad. Some could argue that your battle with Leviathan wrecked the city even more. They’d be wrong, but bad PR rarely cares about facts.

No. Instead we have the narrative that you triggered at seeing your friends nearly killed and saved them, bravely holding off an Endbringer to do so. And it’s not even wrong except for that one tiny detail. So why rock that? Disturbing it now could make it shape and twist into something lesser.”

I frowned a bit, but it made sense. It really was a minor detail in a mostly correct and very positive story for the public. And tactically it made even less sense to give away my major weakness - my suit. If separated from it I was still a fairly strong Shaker, but I was nowhere near my power when fully suited up. The longer I kept that a secret, the better my chances of survival as a hero were.

What did I think of my public image though? Did I care if it was inaccurate? My gut told me no. No, I didn’t. As long as it didn’t get in my way and I was able to push forward with my goals, then I didn’t need to care exactly what my image was. If it was a problem that held me back, I’d be frustrated, but if it was minorly inaccurate...I couldn’t see any major harm to it. Hell, it was the smart thing to do. Brain over brawn and all that.

I gave a slow nod to Undercover, “Okay. I get it now. Yeah, that makes sense. So anything I need to do then?”

Undercover shook her head, a small smirk I was beginning to associate with ‘Jackass Thinker’ on her visage, “Not really, just remember that for interviews, public appearances, and so on. Looks bad for everyone if we can’t keep our stories straight.”

I paled, “I’m going to have interviews?”

Another, bigger smirk, “Oh. Dozens.”

\---

I looked out the window of the bus as skyscrapers rolled by on both sides. It was kindof odd taking a giant bus, but apparently that was simply the most economic choice when you had to move an entire PRT operational staff to a new city from a disaster zone. No fancy helicopters or esoteric tinker-tech, just a refurbished Greyhound. It had probably never been so comfy or clean in its life as it was now, reincarnation treated it well.

The Empire State building pierced the sky as we waited in traffic. New York City. My new home, given that Brockton Bay had been ruined by Leviathan. Our efforts had bought enough time to evacuate the bulk of the city, but the infrastructure was permanently crippled, the terrain altered to be almost entirely unsuitable to living. Sinkholes had formed throughout the city, streets were swamped or buried by debris. Tens of thousands were dead, still being recovered from the sunken homes and beaches. Brockton Bay belonged to the drowned now, there was no contesting that.

I supposed I should feel proud. My efforts alongside those of the Wards had pushed Leviathan back, we had broken the wave that would’ve sunk the city wholesale with everyone in it. Tens of thousands dead instead of hundreds of thousands. But I couldn’t help but feel a sense of shame and failure. We hadn’t beaten Leviathan, we had survived him. It was unrealistic to expect to beat an Endbringer, but yet. But yet I did. I had managed more than most and I was certainly receiving the attention for it.

My teammates received their fair share of accolades as well. If not for our rocketing onto the national stage, we wouldn’t be together right now. I could look up from my musings to see Chris and Carlos joking with Missy in meaningless banter as the bus rolled to a stop in the backed-up streets yet again. I could see Dennis, hanging back but smiling lightly, recovering surprisingly well from the loss of his father. Without our fame, we would’ve surely been split up as the Protectorate ENE was redistributed to intact cities. As it was, I had to pull some favors to keep us together. Claims that the tinkertech wouldn’t work without me. Claims that it wouldn’t work for anyone other than them. It had made the Director unhappy, but ultimately he acquiesced. Throwing away the combination that made the national stage was a particularly direct form of political suicide that he didn’t want.

Director Heathrow wasn’t a bad man, however. He had a firm sense of justice from what I saw and a much more PR friendly demeanor. We had only met him once, at an emergency meeting in the refugee camps outside of Brockton Bay, but he had already impressed us more than Piggot ever had.

The ceremony for her had been short and brief, not lumped in with the fatalities of Leviathan’s attack. Even with waves breaking the command center she had refused to fall back. The captain went down the ship. It was what she would’ve wanted. She probably would’ve given me shit for it later if she had survived. Also as she would’ve wanted.

The bus pulled up to the New York PRT Headquarters, a towering building in the middle of downtown Manhattan. Difficult to defend in many respects due to its location, but a key symbol for the city and a good place for power projection. Everything was in relatively fast reach from their location, save for Staten Island, but no one really paid them much mind.

Director Heathrow greeted us as we got off the bus in an underground parking lot. He was a tall man, towering over even Carlos and myself. Far from stocky, he was relatively thin, but he stood with military bearing and authority. A small smile played on his face.

“Good to see traffic didn’t hold you up too much. Trip go well?”

Carlos nodded, “Nice and quiet the whole way down.”

He chuckled in reply, “Good, good. You’ll get enough noise during your stay here anyway. Follow me. We’ll be doing a preliminary tour and debriefing at the same time.”

With that he headed for the doorway, we followed him with only a slight pause at the straight to business approach. I could appreciate not wanting to waste time, I had done enough of that in the Wards already. We were lead into a large elevator, the tell-tale signs of Tinkertech laced throughout it.

The Director spoke as we rode, “I assume you’ve all read the memo and briefing on both the PRT and Protectorate buildings in the city. You’ll all be stationed in the PRT building as opposed to the Protectorate base for your stay here. One of our concessions with the Youth Guard was a bit more direct protection given recent events. You’ll have mandatory weekly meetings with the psych for the next month and so forth.”

Dennis groaned lightly, “Oh boy.”

The Director continued as if he didn’t hear Dennis, “Also you’ll be having a public appearance this evening. Can’t have a whole Wards team move into the city without introducing you to the people you’ll be protecting. It’ll be a standard press event. You all have handled those before, yes?”

Carlos and Vista spoke up in sync, “Yes Sir.”

The elevator reached our destination and let us off. An air-lock like hallway was our first sight. Double foot thick glass barriers that hissed when they retracted into the ceiling. An interesting security measure that certainly spoke of a larger budget than Brockton Bay ever had.

“Great. We’ll go over talking points later and a little prepared speech we have for each of you. Ichor bought a lot of good-will by helping Panacea with the healings afterwards, so you have a little lee-way. You can ad-lib a bit, but no Clockblockers, okay?”

A very direct stare was levelled at Dennis. After a pause there was a muffled “Okay,” from the entire group.

The last door opened and we were greeted with a somewhat familiar sight. A large room, not unlike the layout of our base in Brockton Bay. There were differences naturally. The couches were bigger and newer, the monitoring station was set up closer to the door, we had large glass windows that overlooked the city, and a kitchenette. But the general premise was the same.

The windows that looked out over the city indicated we had to be at the top floor or at least near it. Another interesting choice. In Brockton Bay the idea had been that if we were underground it was harder for any attackers to reach us. Here we were vulnerable to fliers. I had to assume that the PRT here had some sort of security that made this a preferable choice. The building did have a forcefield, but even so...It didn’t sit quite right with me that that was the only relevant security feature I could think of.

Heathrow continued to speak as we walked through our new base, “After this we’ll be meeting the Protectorate team and the Wards. All of you have met some of them, but this will be your first meeting as part of the same department. We have Prism taking command of the NYC team and Miss Militia as the new second in command. We’d have brought in Armsmaster too but I think if we denied him team lead he might go full villain on us. He’ll be heading up the Atlanta team instead while he recovers.”

There was a general chuckle from our group and I got a distinct sense of disconnect. Never had Piggot cracked a joke in our presence, nor had she ever been so cavalier. Was this a ploy by the Director to let our guard down and underestimate him so he could set us up how he wanted?

_He might be genuine...but I can’t take that risk with my team just yet. If he’s still mister nice guy in a month and hasn’t tried something, maybe I can consider it real. _ I just had trouble reconciling his role as managing the largest city in the United States, working with Piggot, and being so chipper. It didn’t sit right.

The Director added on after a moment’s thoughtfulness, “Oh, and Ichor? We’ll need to have a private meeting after all that in regards to some special circumstances surrounding your status.”

Ah. There it was. There was always a hook lurking somewhere underneath it all.

I kept my expression carefully neutral and replied, “Yes Sir.”

\---

Prism was tall and blonde, muscles rippling under the skin tight costume she worse. She extended a hand out to Aegis, duplicates snapping into place to shake my hand Vista’s at the same time. A neat parlor trick, she could easily multitask with her power. Being Legend’s former second in command meant she had to be either good enough to fight next to him or had been being groomed to lead her own team. Either way she’d be one of the more competent heroes the Protectorate had to offer.

Her voice was warm and young, “It’s good to see you all again out of that camp.”

Flanking her was the rest of the New York Protectorate: Miss Militia, Ursa, Cache, Clay, Adamant, Astrologer, Assault, and Battery. Greetings and smiles were exchanged between Wards and heroes, mostly familiar greetings and reminders of previous meetings. We had all met before in some small way during the weeks following Leviathan’s attack as the Protectorate had re-allocated heroes to the area temporarily to help with relief efforts.

Prism continued, a more somber tone taking over, “The loss of Legend has hit us all hard. He wasn’t just a leader for New York, but for the entire Protectorate. Eidolon has taken up his mantle in the latter, but we’ll be reeling from his loss for years to come. The Teeth and the Adepts have taken the opportunity to push their luck, but I’m confident with our new teammates we’ll be able to handle them.”

Director Heathrow followed off that, “I think we’re going to benefit a lot from having a few battle-hardened veterans from Brockton Bay on the team. You won’t be seeing the Protectorate as much as usual for the following few weeks. They’ll be pretty busy pushing back against the Teeth and we frankly can’t include the Wards in that. The Youth Guard can’t push too hard since you guys all volunteered for that fight, but we don’t want to give them a better reason.”

I grimaced a bit at that, half opening my mouth to protest before closing it. Protesting would just get me told off in front of the entire team and not get me anywhere. I had built up a measure of respect in the ENE Protectorate but I’d have to start over with this new team. Starting that with obvious impatience wouldn’t get me anywhere except their shit list.

I would need to do something about that, however. I couldn’t, wouldn’t, wait for weeks on end just for the public eye to shift. We were needed now if we were to help and more so if I was to maintain our momentum. It would be easy to get buried and forgotten if we didn’t chain successes together. The more success we had, the more control I could get. The more control I had, the closer I’d be to my goals.

My goals felt distant, almost abstract at this point. I had been moved by the harsh truth Piggot had given to me. If I wanted to change the Protectorate and the PRT it would have to be from the inside. I had built my projected career path around accumulating fame and power so that I could push my way to the top. I still had two years before I’d even be considered Protectorate rather than a Ward though. Could I manage to continue down this path for another two, five, even ten years?

Would I even remember what I had wanted to change in the first place? I would. The PRT had failed me, it had lead to me triggering. To Dad’s death. Things I could never forget, even if I wanted to. My power, and the reminder of his, would forever be with me. I could buckle down and bear a few more years of this. Having side projects helped. The thought reminded me that I needed to check in on Tattletale and Parian soon, but the same thought was interrupted by the Director stopping and a shift in tone that brought my attention back to the present.

Prism took over, “And after that little stats update, let’s have you guys meet the Wards. There’s quite a few, as you know the NYC Protectorate is the largest in the country. Team leader is Jouster-”

A tall teen in medieval themed armor with dirty blond hair gave a wave. He wore a blue bodysuit with silver bolts and armored plates covering his shoulders, forearms, and shins. Aegis gave a wave and got a dismissive head-bob in return. I didn’t like him already.

“-he also leads the Lancers: the fast response team, which include Tollbooth, Doubletime, and Splitter.”

The three others stood behind Jouster. Two girls and one boy, one of the girls towering over the others at nearly six feet and packed with muscle that looked just within the bounds of natural. They seemed to wait on Jouster’s lead and didn’t really greet us back.

“Then there’s the Hammers, our heavy hitters. This is Flechette, who leads them, Castanet, Nutcracker, and Azeotrope.”

A medium height girl, one I recognized vaguely from somewhere, stood at the front of the group. She was flanked by another girl with two guys, Nutcracker very obvious in his brute-like appearance with thick cords of muscle and minimal protection. Friendly waves came from them and I did my best to return the sentiment despite my mild misgivings.

“And lastly we have the Foot Patrol, our most junior members. This is Well, Time-Turner, Spirit, and Lunaris.”

The youngest group stood to the sides of the rest and gave a series of varyingly enthusiastic waves. Pre-teens at best really, it was a collection of kids in costumes. Vista probably would’ve looked old among them and I was a bit concerned at the fact they were even allowed to be Wards. I supposed it was better than not having supervision at all, but it seemed a bit opportunistic of the Protectorate to target kids that young.

Prism turned to the collected Wards and gestured towards us, “Ichor will be leading a separate team, still under Jouster as the Wards captain, that will assist the Lancers. We’ve dubbed this team the Knights. Considering their specialized equipment and power sets we determined they’re best suited at handling exotic calls that the other teams might not feel comfortable with. They’ll be working with you all the same as any other Wards. Why don’t you all introduce yourselves and talk a bit?”

I stepped forward, picking Jouster immediately and moving for him. The way he held himself told me he had no interest in making first contact. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Aegis and Clock were striking up conversation with the Hammers and Vista and Kid Win with the Foot Patrol. Jouster stood sideways, arms folded and a light glare on his face.

Stepping up to him I extended a hand and spoke, “Good to meet you since we’ll be working together.”

He eyed the hand and took it after a moment, squeezing far harder than necessary, “Yeah. Gotta be pretty smug to push to lead a team so fast.”

I squeezed my hand in return, putting a bit of blood into it to give it an extra oomph. Jouster didn’t wince but I saw the uncomfortable twitch in his arm. “Excuse me?”

He let go, folding his hand under the other arm in feigned casualness, “I just would’ve expected the most senior or experienced from your team to be the leader, not the least.”

His team stood behind him, looking away awkwardly from the quickly failing introductions. I didn’t need this, not from some wannabe Sophia who thought he was above us. I licked my teeth as I felt out my reply, “I wouldn’t worry too much, I have bigger goals than your job.”

A flash of anger in his eyes followed by indignation. Good, I didn’t have time or energy to deal with his petty little attempts at a fiefdom among the Wards. I suspected he wouldn’t have been nearly so bold when Legend was still around. He seemed like the type to take advantage of a power vacuum instead of carrying on the legacy of his mentor.

“Remember who writes your reports at the end of the day.”

“Remember why I don’t care what you think.” I scoffed at him.

The room was oddly silent following that and I groaned internally. Of course it had gone silent right then. Director Heathrow and Prism were giving me hard looks and I simply turned and stalked off towards the Director. I still had the social finesse of a rock, I just had enough frustration built up now to push back for all the good that it did. Exactly none. I needed the cooperation of the other Wards if I wanted to make headway in New York. The formation of an entire sub-team for us was already pushing it.

The team could handle the rest without me. I felt Junketsu wriggle on my skin, responding to my frustration with eagerness. It was quelled as quickly as I felt it, the suit’s eagerness serving to quickly kill any visceral reaction I had. I looked to the Director as I approached him.

“Can we do that meeting now while the Wards mingle?”

He looked down with a touch of concern, “You sure you don’t want to be part of that?”

I looked over my shoulder, making sure enough attention was off me as I responded in a quiet voice, “I’m sure.”

He thinned his lips and sighed, giving a shrug to Prism, “Continue without us.”

\---

  
Director Heathrow’s choice in office decor was interestingly stark. He had chosen a black and white theme, heavy features of post-modernism and minimalism in his decoration and set-up. It had an almost cartoony feel to it with how outlandish it was. He sat down in an obviously comfortable chair that probably cost what I would earn for the entire month. Before taxes.

He gestured to the chair across the desk, which was also quite impressive looking. “Please, sit, sit.”

I took a seat tentatively, sinking into the chair quicker than I expected, “Huh...a bit outside what I expected.”

He gave an amused smirk, “Well, I never understood having a boring office. I’m the one who spends all day here, so I should at least get to enjoy the space. Some would disagree, but fortunately none of those are my boss so it hardly matters. Anyway! On to business.”

I sat back in the chair and looked out from under the mask at him, waiting for him to speak first. I wasn’t sure what his game was just yet, but I was hesitant to play into it. I had already misstepped with Jouster, even if it was satisfying to piss him off.

The Director sighed, “We have a few things to go over, but I suppose first would be asking you to cooperate with your new teammates a bit better? You were supposedly great in Brockton Bay at that.”

I twitched a bit reflexively, “In Brockton Bay my teammates didn’t immediately attack my abilities. Well...”

Heathrow let out a long breath, massaging his temple, “Yes, I’ve read the your file. I’d very much prefer if you didn’t repeat that. It would reflect poorly on all of us to lose two Wards from active duty in the first month of your arrival here.”

Two. Implying that if I got rid of Jouster that he’d get rid of me. Figures that he’d support him like that. Jouster probably didn’t have a sudden change in heart after Legend’s death, he was just being less subtle about it. That meant the Director likely had seen the trend in his behaviour and overlooked it. How familiar, just another Sophia waiting to happen, assuming Jouster hadn’t mauled some poor kid in his school yet.

I bit back my first reply and took my time before responding, “I agree.”

Director Heathrow cast a doubtful look at me, “Look, a lot of strings were pulled to smooth out what happened with your team. Unapproved tinkertech use? That’s a problem. Having Wards using it? A problem. During an Endbringer fight? A big problem. That’s besides the question of where you even got those things made. That investigation was pretty much dead from the start since most of the evidence is now underwater. Making more problems doesn’t give me a lot of encouragement for your time here.”

He had issues with my methods? At least I produced results. Armsmaster understood that, even if he had fucked the pooch by letting Shadow Stalker get away with torturing me under his watch. Suddenly I recognized Heathrow. He wasn’t Piggot, he wasn’t Blackwell. He was Gladly. All smiles and charm until something got in the way of his perfect fantasy and then he just wanted it smoothed out and gone.

I schooled my features into being featureless, helped by the mask. “I was under the impression that most of that solved itself, what with the amazing PR response that we got from what leaked out.”

Heathrow nodded a bit, “It did. If you hadn’t managed to succeed so astoundingly then this would’ve been a career ender for you and Armsmaster. Glenn practically had a conniption at how well that worked out. The narrative of a young Ward experiencing a second trigger in order to save her teammates is practically plagiarized from pulp fiction. Incredibly popular pulp fiction. Instead we merely have the Youth Guard breathing down our neck on your behalf.”

I grumbled back, “I didn’t ask them to. Hell, I’m with you on this, I can get a lot more done if they leave us alone. None of what we managed could’ve happened under their restrictions.”

The Director interlaced his fingers as he leaned back in his chair, “Exactly, which is why we’d rather not have them doing that. The best way to start that would be to get along for a few months, let things settle down, and prove that there’s nothing here worth keeping their ever thinning resources on. I think your team can do a lot here, but I can’t let you do much while the public eye is on us. It could easily turn from approval to outrage if it gets spun the wrong way. See what I mean?”

He wasn’t wrong. I could easily see how if we were too active the Youth Guard or some other group could spin it as us being overworked and push for more oversight. We’d just be playing into their hands. And yet it was so frustrating to be tied up in their petty political pandering. The Youth Guard were using us as a potential piece to play against the PRT. Heathrow was stopping me because he didn’t want the extra work of breaking the status quo. Both were treating us like players in a game and it didn’t sit well with me.

I set my jaw, feeling determination setting in. I wouldn’t let them just manipulate me into passiveness for their own convenience. I wouldn’t play into their hands either. I could work within the rules and twist them to my own ends. I had to if any of this was going to work, otherwise I’d get sidelined forever.

I closed my eyes for a moment, opening them as I answered, “Yeah. I can see how that could cause problems…”

Heathrow smiled in the sickly sweet manner, “Great! It’s not so bad, just think of it as a slow warm-up rather than being benched. You’re just taking some time to get back into shape. Now, let’s move on...The unapproved Tinkertech.”

I winced.

He continued, “We aren’t confiscating it on grounds that it’s incredibly effective and passed M/S protocols. However, if you should have any other surprises, we will ground you and your entire team. Is that understood?”

I suppressed a sigh, “Yes.”

The Director nodded and continued, “Great. Now, the second part of that. While we have you rated as a Tinker 0 for your ability to maintain and manipulate your...kamui? Is that it? We know that you don’t possess the ability to create copies of it, even if they are weaker. You’ve refused in previous interviews to disclose the nature of these suits or how you obtained them.”

I nodded simply in return.

Heathrow pinched the bridge of his nose, “Ichor, if you don’t cooperate it’s a lot harder for us to trust you and approve your deployment to the field, which seems to me to be something you want very much.”

I had expected as much, but it simply wasn’t something I could compromise on. It would undermine me heavily to let them know exactly how much I had been doing with Parian. Plus she didn’t want to be involved that much and a full PRT investigation would definitely be a poor way to repay her cooperation.

I repeated the tired line, “Disclosing my source would place them at significant risk and was part of their conditions for producing the uniforms. I also firmly believe it would be dangerous to spread the tech any further.”

He steepled his hands across from me, leaning in, “If you don’t work with me, I can’t help you Ichor. A lot of the upper levels want you punished for how many rules you managed to flaunt. I see your potential, but I can’t just ignore half of the PRT to play favorites for you.”

I met his eyes in return, “Then don’t. I was prepared for the consequences when I made that decision. Playing favorites is what made me trigger, I’d much prefer if you didn’t, even if it is on my behalf.”

Heathrow winced at that line, “I can understand how that would be a sensitive point for you. Fair enough, no favors or favorites here.” He gave a sigh and waved it off, “We’ll come back to it later and see if you can’t change your mind. Consider it, okay? It would make writing a favorable report much easier for me.”

I knew the Protectorate wasn’t happy with me for that. The questionings after I awoke had clued me in pretty quickly. The further interviews had cemented that. They couldn’t completely bench me, not when my reputation had skyrocketed to the Ward who had soloed an Endbringer to save her city. Sure, it hadn’t fully worked out, but the media coverage was already there and I had enough push to hold fast on that.

Heathrow spoke as if checking off a mental list, “Alright...let’s see...interview. There’s an interview panel today. You guys go up, get some softball questions, make a few sentimental comments, a few jokes, and that’ll be fine. It should be run of the mill stuff, any questions there?”

I shook my head, “Not particularly. Sounds like you’ve vetted the questions already?”

He chuckled, “Of course we have. It’s the first impression the city gets of you that isn’t you fighting an Endbringer. We don’t leave those to chance, otherwise half the questions would be about your damn make-up or something equally asinine.”

Fair enough, I didn’t particularly care to answer questions about whether I liked any boys or how I did my hair. The answers were both no to those and that probably wouldn’t make me a great impression with the public.

I shrugged, “Sounds good to me, I’d probably screw up questions like that anyway.”

The Director smiled a little and gave a wave towards the door, “That’s something for your therapist to handle. Why don’t you get going? Your team should be up in the Wards headquarters and I’m sure you want to catch back up with them. We’re not entirely done here, but it is the first day…”

“Oh! Also talk to Prism, she said she had news to pass onto you.”

I got up and gave him a polite bob of my head, about the most that I could do now that I had made the connection to Gladly in my mind. I headed for the exit to his office. The meeting could’ve gone better, but I just couldn’t manage it. Seeing another Sophia, another Gladly even in a completely different city had soured my mood. What hope was there for the PRT if every branch had the same corrupt figures. Was it the same for all of humanity? If so, was there a point in my attempting to change things for the better?

\---

I passed the boys in the lounge with a curt wave, they were busy chatting up our new teammates. One of whom was still frozen in time from yet another of Dennis’ pranks. Missy was lounging in her new room when I peaked through the door that had been left ajar. She was laying on her stomach, messing around on her laptop. She had changed into comfortable clothes, sweatpants and a t-shirt. I gave a cursory knock and leaned my head in.

“Hey Missy, can I come in?”

She looked up from her browsing and smiled, “Hey Taylor!” She waved me in.

I stepped inside, gently closing the door behind me and leaned against the wall. The lights suddenly went out and I jumped.

“Shit. Sorry.”

I fumbled for the light switch, finding it near the small of my back. I flipped it back on and shimmied down the wall a few inches to lean on a part that wasn’t occupied with switches. _Great start Taylor._ I exhaled, collecting myself as Missy finished giggling at me. I gave a chagrined smile.

Missy practically chirped, “What’s up?”

I thinned my lips, “I have some bad news.”

I had been turning it over and over in my mind. How to deliver the news to her. Prism’s news had been unfortunate, albeit expected. Dean had survived Leviathan’s attack on the hospital but only barely. His already tenuous condition had rapidly deteriorated when his life support had been compromised. The Protectorate had tried their best, moving him to another hospital as quickly as they could, but by then he had gone several hours practically unassisted.

It had been a slow degrade from there over the weeks since. His condition incurable by modern medicine. Panacea was one of the very few who could’ve healed him, but was limited when it came to brains. The hospital attack had been brutal. Before we hadn’t had enough healers. Now? The few remaining were working overtime to keep up with demand and none of the ones who had tried had managed to help Dean. It really had been only a matter of time, despite our hopes.

Triumph was still alive, his machinery having miraculously survived Leviathan’s attack. He was still in the same condition as before, but he was marginally improving instead of rapidly deteriorating. We still had some hope that he could recover someday.

Missy sat up, cross-legged and worried, “What?”

“I’m going to tell the team, but I thought you’d want to know separately since you were closer to him. Dean’s gone.”

Missy looked paused for a moment before the tears budding at the corners of her eyes started to roll down her face. I stepped forward to the foot of the bed. Before I could think what to do next, Missy’s arms were around me with quiet sobs into my shirt.

\---

The next day came quickly. We didn’t have any patrols scheduled except for a perfunctory one tomorrow. The Director had us doing psych evaluations, therapist sessions, teamwork exercises with the other Wards, and all sorts of settling in stuff before we’d be on the streets full time. School was being handled and due to the influx of refugees from Brockton Bay it wasn’t too hard to hide us among them. New York also had a lot of high schools we could choose from, which made hiding in plain sight all the easier. I wasn’t overly thrilled about starting school again, but there was no way I could avoid it under the PRT’s watchful gaze.

Sometimes it felt like I was choking underneath all the rules and restrictions that the PRT pushed down on me. I couldn’t patrol more because I had to go to school. I couldn’t just hunt down criminals because the Wards was ostensibly a training program, not active like the Protectorate. I couldn’t develop tinkertech without a hundred pages of regulatory paperwork and red-tape. I couldn’t patrol for a few weeks minimum to keep the Youth Guard happy.

Despite my attempts to keep my frustrations in check, I felt it boiling out from under the edges of my mind. I was felt impatient and I had good reason to. There was a lot to do and it wasn’t getting done. The PRT was supposed to oversee parahuman behavior to keep us in line but it seemed more concerned with control than good behavior. I was pushing at my boundaries yet again with my project in Boston, but I had to do something while I was under such tight lock and key.

_Sometimes I wonder if joining the Wards was the right choice. I always wanted to be a hero, but I imagined that it involved a lot more heroing and a lost less pandering._

I stood with the rest of my team behind a curtain. We were dressed to the nines: full costumes readied, hair done, some make-up for Vista (I had declined), and a bit of extra sparkle. Everyone was in their normal costumes, Regalia reserved for actual emergencies. My normal costume covered more than when I did Override anyway and my blood cloak had apparently gotten the PR stamp of ‘Never at a Press Release’. The team had their Regalia suits on underneath, discreet and safe.

Kid Win spoke up, “So...bets on who gets a personal meeting with Glenn after this?”

Vista smirked, “Is that even a bet? Aegis and I are immaculate.”

“Hey, what about that time you broke copyright by shouting attack names?” Kid Win sputtered in contest.

Vista blushed, replying sharply, “Lies! Lies and slander!”

Aegis groaned, “Come on guys, let’s keep it professional. We’re on any second now.”

A snickering came from Clockblocker, “Oh yeah, let’s be immaculate.” He drew out the last word, turning to Vista.

“Hey-!”

I saw our signal to walk out from the backstage and gave Aegis a cuff on the shoulder to get his attention. Starting to walk forward I heard muffled protests from behind, but couldn’t turn to see. Instead I was stuck waving into overly bright lights and cameras. A large crowd surrounded the stage. Reporters were clustered in the front section, but the back was equally as packed, overflowing to the sides with eager onlookers.

Skyscrapers towered on either side of us and I wondered why exactly we had to do our reveal in Times Square of all places. It was far too flashy and public for my own comfort. The crowd expanded back quite a ways and behind that was even more people, walking to and fro as they scurried about the city. Heads turning in casual interest to see what big spectacle was taking up the city’s most famous tourist spot today.

I saw a turn of heads as we reached center stage and turned my head slightly to follow. Clockblocker was walking, and trying quite hard, to reach the middle of the stage but was having a rough time with it. Aegis gave Vista a small nudge and suddenly floor around his feet snapped a little and he was able to step right next to us. I wasn’t even sure who to blame for that. Vista for using her powers to mess with Dennis, or Dennis for aggravating Vista beforehand. I resorted to a snort of amusement as the reporters chuckled lightly in front of us.

The noise died down quickly and the speaker at the front started into his microphone.

“Now, please make some noise for the newest addition to our local Wards!”

Cheers, clapping, whistles, and hoots followed the announcer. They certainly had drummed up a lot of interest in this event. The announcer continued,

“Ichor!” I stepped forward, giving a small bow of my head. I couldn’t think of anything else to do really that didn’t feel silly or weird.

“Aegis!” Aegis stepped forward and struck a muscleman pose, flexing for the crowd a bit.

“Vista!” She stepped forward as Aegis stepped back and did a twirl and curtsy.

“Kid Win!” Kid stepped up, making finger guns with his hands and striking the iconic Hero pose.

“Clockblocker!” He jumped forward, giving an unnecessarily extravagant bow to the crowd, blowing a kiss to a section of the audience.

The cheers rose in crescendo again as the introductions ended and then tapered off. The announcer took the mic again.

“The PRT and Protectorate are very happy to welcome the Brockton Bay Wards to our lovely city! We hope that they find New York to be like a second home to them. I think I speak for us all when I say that if they defend New York like they did Brockton Bay, then we’ll have nothing to worry about. Ichor will be leading a new sub-division of the Wards here, called the Knights. Given their incredible experience in diverse situations they’ll be the specialists backing up our core teams and helping share their experience with them.”

“Now, we’ll be opening the floor up to questions first from those in the reporting section and then a few lucky men and women from the crowd!”

The reporters surged in their section, hands pushing up and shouts for attention. They pushed past each other, suddenly I was glad to be on the stage and not down in the crush of the crowd. The announcer leaned forward and started to point.

“You! Yes, you with the black fedora!”

A woman started to speak as the rest quieted down and receded, “Ichor, are the rumors about your second trigger true? How do you feel?”

I sighed internally, trying vaguely to smile politely as I took the mic handed to me. “Yes, I got lucky during my worst nightmare. I’m pretty grateful for it. I never would’ve forgiven myself if I had lost my friends.”

Another clamor started and the announcer was quicker on the pick this time, pointing out a man in a garish suit.

“Question for Aegis: How do you feel about the comparisons to Lung?”

Aegis stepped forward for a question I certainly didn’t envy. “I like them. Imagine what good Lung could’ve done with his power as a hero. Strong enough to take on entire villain teams single-handed! I’ve been given the chance to do that myself and I’m thankful that I could do even more to help now.”

Another rush of shouts, another clamoring for the right to ask.

“Kid Win! How does it feel to know your tech helped save your team and repel Leviathan?”

Right. I had forgotten that would be on the docket. I had been explained as a second trigger, but the Wards suddenly gaining new and diverse powers was harder to explain. Officially the PRT had gone with Kid Win and Armsmaster had worked together to create prototype suits that mimicked mine. A bit of a stretch but fortunately Tinkers were bullshit enough that two of them together could do enough that the public didn’t know enough to call bullshit.

Kid Win spoke, his nerves leaking through to his voice, “I-I can’t take, uh, full credit. Armsmaster and Ichor’s cooperation were a-a huge part and it really was a team effort. I’m just, uh, happy to have helped.”

Boom, another clamor of sound and fury.

“This is for the whole team: How do you feel about the loss of Brockton Bay?”

The mic came over, held in front of us and we all started to speak at the same time.

“I think we’re all pretty sad-”  
“-some of my favorite memories were there-”  
“-sorry for everyone who lost friends and family-”  
“-need some time to process it.”  
“-only wish we could’ve done more.”

There was a range of sympathetic ‘aww’s and coos of empathy. It wasn’t hard for us to handle, we had all wished we could’ve done more. None of us were cheering Brockton Bay’s demise, despite some poorly timed jokes from Clockblocker.

The announcer turned the spotlight back to us, “That’ll be enough from the reporters for the moment. We’ll get back to you, but let’s get someone from the crowd. How about the Wards pick a few from the crowd?”

I searched the crowd with my eyes as the mic passed into my hand. A wave of hands at the front and some pushing out further into the back. A man in the middle of the crowd raised his hand and I gave a vague hand wave to him.

A microphone was passed through the crowd over to him from one of the staff waiting around the edges. A voice that dripped with confidence spoke, “Amazing work in Brockton Bay, Ichor. Truly amazing. I imagine that a lot of things must be on your mind. I do wonder...did you ever find out who killed your father?”


	16. Interlude 5: Tattletale

### Interlude 5: Tattletale

  
  


\--Two Weeks Ago--

  
  
_Jesus H. Christmas...Why did I agree to this?_ The thought repeated through Tattletale’s mind as she waited for Accord, Boston’s premiere Thinker. _No reward is worth this. _  
  
She had arrived twenty seconds early and was being made to wait by the Thinker’s secretary. She knew Accord had some serious OCD, but this was plain annoying. The office was meticulously organized, every decoration precisely centered and placed. She could tell that if she nudged anything out of place not only would Accord notice, but the secretary would notice and have it fixed before Accord could be irked by it a second time. Despite the roominess and decor the room was stifling in just how pristine it was. Parian might've liked it, it was clearly well designed and the girl was supposed to be all about aesthetic. She hadn't spoken to her much, they both worked with Ichor but they had very different objectives. As much fun as it was to mess with her, she sure had enough buttons to push. _Solid pun, Tattletale, solid. _Grue would've appreciated it, Regent might've snickered. She frowned a little to herself then. _Nice job, buzzkill._  
  
The secretary looked up and nodded at Tattletale. As she started to rise, the doors to Accord’s study swung open and the secretary gestured for her to enter. Tattletale held a sigh in as she strolled through the doors. _ Be confident, but not too confident. Play to his pride, but don’t appear weak enough that he won’t consider you a potential enemy._ Accord waited at his desk, hands steepled in perfect symmetry. The room wasn’t symmetrical, but everything certainly had a purpose. Like gracefully decapitating an unfortunately rude guest, her power helpfully informed her when she glanced at the stylistic chandelier that lit the room.  
  
Accord gestured for her to sit at the chair placed across from his desk, so she did. She crossed her legs and leaned back. A bit of casualness would show him what she thought of his hoity-toity bullshit.  
  
Accord spoke, voice full of precise enunciation, “Tattletale. A bit early, but it’s good to see someone who respects punctuality.”  
  
She curled the sides of her lips in a slight smile, “Well, my former team was all about knowing exactly when to come and go. Had a bit of practice.”  
  
He nodded appreciably at that, “Yes, the Undersiders. I understand that after the loss of Grue your team has split up. So I am forced to wonder why you asked for a meeting.”  
  
Tattletale chuckled a little, “What, two notorious Thinkers can’t just have a nice chat every once in awhile?”  
  
Accord raised his eyebrows, “I was not aware of there being two notorious Thinkers in this room.”  
  
She faked a wince of injury, “Ouch, rude. While I’d love to debate who the better Thinker is I don’t really want to have to deal with Janice out front and you don’t want to have to reset your lovely chandelier or bookshelf traps so I’ll just skip to business.”  
  
He nodded to her as if to indicate her proposal was acceptable.  
  
“I have a new team I’m working with. Our...sponsor thinks that a bit of cooperation with you would go a long way towards our goals.”  
  
“Continue.”  
  
She held her pointer finger up, “Our sponsor has reason to believe that the PRT and Protectorate are a bit less pure and sweet than they let the public believe. In fact, they think the PRT isn’t just a bit corrupt, but that something stinks all the way to the core. But getting dirt on the PRT isn’t exactly a cake-walk. I can break into computer systems all day, but our sponsor thinks that your power would work well with planning out exactly what’s going on.”  
  
Accord looked over his steepled hands, gesturing with one towards her, “I certainly could direct my powers in such a way. The question that naturally follows is what would I get in exchange for provoking the largest group of parahumans in the world?”  
  
Tattletale smirked, “Besides proving that you could out-Think the entire Protectorate and pull off the biggest whistleblowing operation in history?”  
  
He nodded, “Yes, besides that.”  
  
Tattletale shrugged, opening her power up more to read each little tell, “Well, you know...my sponsor has an interesting theory. They think that the PRT is more concerned with maintaining the status quo than actually improving the world. All those genius plans of yours that could change the world?”_ Change specifically. OCD. Order._ “Bring order?”_ Interested, needs more though._ “The PRT stops those. They draw a line in the sand to force everyone who isn’t one of them into being in the villain box.” _Connection._ “I mean really, what kind of villain has plans to stop world hunger?” _Very interested._ “The things you could do if people worked with you large scale would be…” _Terrifying._ “Amazing, at minimum. The PRT stopping things from changing, never taking a risk? My sponsor doesn’t like that.” _Doesn’t like Accord either._  
  
Accord sat silently, looking over steepled hands for a minute. His response was slow, “They would be willing to work with me to see my plans succeed?”  
  
Tattletale put her hands up in a stop motion, “Depends on the plan naturally. Plan to drop a birdbath on Blasto? Not really. Plan to solve income inequality in the continental US within 7 years? Definitely.”_ Hopefully. Really wish I knew exactly what she’d put up with, but we can worry about that later._  
  
The supervillain straightened up, an energetic look in his eyes, “Very well. It's rare to find someone who appreciates what I'm trying to accomplish. Obviously this will be a developing relationship, as I've been disappointed by promising partners before. Your sponsor must have good reason to think the PRT and Protectorate are compromised. If you want me to be able to make a plan to ferret it out then I must know the exact nature of it.”  
  
_Time to live up to your name Tattletale._  
  
Lisa opened the door to her power and focused on all the threads she knew about the Protectorate, what she had gathered from Ichor. All of the fragments of information began to flow together, forming a coherent picture in her brain. From that picture she could leap to a more informed one. And another leap from there. Careful, not too far now. Look before you leap, Lisa. _There it was._  
  
A vulpine grin grew on her face as she began to speak.  
  
  


\---  
  
\--Yesterday--

  
  
Tattletale lounged on the couch carefully. A bit of lounge, but not too much. Any more lounging and she’d look casual, which wouldn’t do. She wanted to look confident, in control, but also disciplined. It was a hard balance to pull off, but the imminent threat of incarceration for life on top of fucking up her two biggest business relations was a fucking good incentive.  
  
Lounge a bit, but not too much. Just lounge casual.  
  
She looked around the break room. It was distinctly boring, as if someone had taken the most generic breakroom possible and made it exist. A coffee pot of some generic brand sat half-full, a couch and a few tables to eat or drink at. A microwave. A stove, which was surprising, but was a nice alternative for people who didn’t want to microwave something. Probably the most interesting part of the room honestly.  
  
She checked her heads-up display. The Tinkertech helmets were pretty neat admittedly. The PRT had the advantage of having a lot of Tinkers and it certainly showed. While the uniform and body armor themselves were none too shabby, the helmet really packed quite the suite of features. The time read 15:33:10. Great, only 41 more seconds to kill. She popped the helmet back off and did her best to perfect looking casual. Actually, scratch that. She refilled the coffee pot. It was still half full, but honestly it could afford to be fresher. It’d be a nice little present for the soon to be quite sad PRT employees.  
  
15:33:51  
  
She walked out of the break room along the predetermined path laid out by Accord. Everything had an exact place and time. It grated at her, she preferred a bit of action, some flair, in her heists, but she couldn’t argue with safety and precision here. The flair would come later anyway. Tattletale walked down the hallway at a distinctly average pace, reaching the first door precisely twenty seconds later. A swipe of her ID card and the light turned green. Another hallway, a staircase up two floors, another door. Swipe, beep.  
  
She started to sweat a little. Next door was where it got real. If things went wrong there...well Accord would pull out and she’d be left high and dry. She got to the door and swiped her card. By all means it shouldn’t work to access this level of security.  
  
The light flashed green. She was in.  
  
Tattletale strolled through the crisis command center of Boston’s PRT as if she belonged. There was no ongoing crisis so the room was only minimally staffed. No one questioned why she was there, only the occasional glance of curiosity as she passed by. One employee stared longer than normal and _over-achiever, paranoid, will call security to double check. Other employees hate him because he’s always calling security on them. _  
  
She stopped and backtracked a step, looking down at the guy, “Excuse me, do you know when Agent-”_ Morrison is out for twenty minutes_, “-Morrison will be back?”  
  
Calmed slightly by human interaction. Still slightly suspicious. The man spoke begrudgingly, “Not sure, he ducked out a few minutes ago. What did you need from him?”  
  
Tattletale gestured vaguely towards the other end of the room, “There was a pattern of incidents on patrol routes that I brought to him and he requested the data so we could review it. I’ll just get SPSS up next to his terminal and get it loaded up if he’s out for a smoke though.”  
  
Critical jargon mass achieved, no longer suspicious. He shrugged, “Uh, yeah, sure. You know which is his?”  
  
She nodded, “Yup, thanks!” and gave a small wave as she walked off. People really were the weakest link in any security system. Dragon could design as many redundancies as she wanted, Tinkers could fret over scanners, Thinkers could create elaborate protocols, but all it took was a few friendly words to the right ear at the right time and it all melted away.  
  
Walking up to the station she took a seat. Seventeen minutes left until Agent Morrison returned, at which point she’d have a problem. Three minutes less than planned, but she could work within that. It just gave her a challenge. She reached around the back of the computer and slid the USB in. It was surprising how long a simple nub on the back of a desktop that was up against a wall would take to be noticed. A non-powered hacker if given physical access to a computer was already hard to stop. A Thinker with a prepared suite of tools given physical access?  
  
The security melted like warm butter before her. _I could really get used to this kind of backing._  
  
The crisis suite was one of the few places in the PRT that would have sufficient access to what she needed. It was either that or the Director’s computer, which was a tad bit harder to access without causing a fuss. Here, however, she could request not only any file on the system but also remote access to other systems. After all, in a crisis the last thing your fast response team needed was to have limited access.  
  
This meant she could remote into an even more secure system with the right passwords and one-time keys. With the right system she could then go further, using her increased privileges to snowball deeper and deeper. She could’ve done it without Accord but with his planning it was so much smoother and faster. There wouldn’t be anything too incriminating on their computer systems naturally. E-mails would be scrubbed, corruption would be done face-to-face or off PRT servers. But there was a surprising number of cameras and microphones in existence. A lot of them accessible by the PRT. The right holes in the right places, a bit of intuition, and well. That backdoors wouldn’t be noticed until they started being used.  
  
Now they just had to wait for the right opportunity.  
  
Tattletale stood up and started to make her way out, carefully timing it to avoid the pesky man in the cubicle. Accord cramped her style and fucked with her chi something fierce, but she had to admit. This went pretty damn well.  
  



	17. Chapter 11: I’m Not Your Cute Woman

### Chapter 11: I’m Not Your Cute Woman

  
  
“I-”  
  
I stood there stunned. _What? Dad? How-?_ The world warped around me. Words were said, warped into garbled speech that flew right by me as I got pulled into my own head._ How does he know about Dad? Who is he? What’s going on? _  
  
Someone shook my shoulder, “Ichor!”  
  
I shook my head almost violently, snapping my focus back to reality. A wide circle had formed around the man, PRT agents were forming the border of it and the crowd was thinning at the edges.  
  
The voice rung out over the microphone, “Now, now, no need to panic. I would advise against trying to arrest me though. I came out of courtesy. Shatterbird would’ve loved to see New York crumble, but I thought that was just too unfair to our contestant this time. I also do love the skyline of the city so. It would be an absolute shame to not get to appreciate it a bit while I’m here!”  
  
I heard Aegis growl under his breath next to me, “Jack Slash…”  
  
I had known it was Jack Slash the moment he mentioned Shatterbird, but hearing it made it real for me. Jack Slash, leader of the Slaughterhouse 9. One of the six S-class threats in the world. Despite having a seemingly normal power he had managed to corral enough powerful parahumans on a regular basis to terrorize the North American continent for years. He didn’t look like he normally did, his face was different, his hair a different color.  
  
He spoke again, focus returning to the stage, “Anyway, Ichor! I come to present to you a contest. You see, Bonesaw and I had an idea after seeing your fantastic little team fighting Leviathan in those suits online. We’ve got a few upgrades of our own we’d like to try out. So the game is this: You and your Elite Four versus me and my Slaughterhouse Nine. You have five days to either catch us all (hah!) or chase us from the city. Each day we’ll hit a different borough. Also you can only get help from four other capes! That way it’ll be a nice 9 vs. 9, eh?”  
  
The Slaughterhouse Nine was here for me. Because of me. I was supposed to be rising in the Protectorate, aiming for the top. They’d just smashed that with a city sized hammer. No one would want the cape that the S9 had personally come to visit, lest they return. How many innocents would they murder over the following days because they had come to toy with me? How many more would die because of me?  
  
Shock changed and shifted, warping into righteous fury in my breast. No, no more. I had survived Lung, I had survived Leviathan. It wasn’t enough to just survive anymore.  
  
I shouted, no longer needing the microphone on my collar, “JACK SLASH!”  
  
The man tilted his head in interest, awaiting my words.  
  
I clenched my jaw, my shout carried across the square cold and even, “I’m ending this here and now.”  
  
I leapt off the stage explosively, pouring blood into my suit, transformation occurring mid-air as I rocketed towards the man. The crowd below me started to panic, the circle around him widening as the PRT officers corralled people to flee in the right direction. The PRT was going to give me hell for attacking with a crowd, but I knew this would be the cleanest shot I’d get. Aegis was trustworthy, he’d know to cover civilians while I took point. Something hard impacted my side, sending me careening off course. I bounced off a pole and rocketed back towards Jack Slash. Again I felt something impact me. A sudden torrent of glass surrounded me, shards cutting deep into my skin. Blood gushed out and formed a whirlwind around me, spinning faster and faster to force the glass away.  
  
The glass pushed back, but I had the advantage. Shatterbird, presumably, couldn’t get a clear shot since the glass would be sent askew when flying through the blood barrier I had pulled around me. Shards flew in from the whirlwind occurring at the border of blood and glass, but most of them went wide. My wounds started to close, the thin but deep cuts seemed to heal faster and easier than things like my bones. I didn’t have many comparison points yet for my suits new capabilities after Leviathan. Frankly, I didn’t particularly want to find out how much regeneration my suit could handle.  
  
I felt something large push through my whirlwind of blood. A black and white striped woman, tall and predatory, slinked through as if unphased. Siberian. She was a foe I couldn’t fight, she had been able to hurt Alexandria. She was the ultimate Brute package, completely invulnerable to the point that she didn’t need to do anything other than walk at you to win. My blood barrier burst out explosively, throwing blood and glass skyward as my sight-line cleared.  
  
Clockblocker and Vista had moved into position, the distance between us and the crowd had widened immensely. Frozen barriers encircled the makeshift arena, a solid wall that might even be able to contain the Siberian. Aegis was dodging flurries of glass, chasing after Shatterbird in the sky. Before me the Siberian walked onwards unbothered. Fire started to burn around the edges of the arena.  
  
_He didn’t bring everyone, couldn’t have sneaked them all in. Present is Jack Slash, Siberian, Shatterbird, and Burnscar it looks like. We have a numbers advantage, even if there’s another one hidden around we’ll be even. Think Taylor, think. Siberian is the biggest problem so what do we do? Send Clockblocker in, he’s the only one with a power esoteric enough that it might work. Burnscar can teleport via her fire, so Vista can counter her speed and Kid Win can take her down at range. Aegis is already on Shatterbird. That leaves Jack Slash to me._  
  
The plan solidified in my mind and I spoke over comms, “Clock, take Siberian. Vista, Kid, take Burnscar.”  
  
Dennis spoke back in an anxious tone, “Siberian? Alone?”  
  
“Your power might counter her. If not, just try to distract her.”  
  
“How?!”  
  
“Do something distracting.”  
  
“Other than getting eaten by the crazy cannibal?”  
  
“Yeah, other than that!”  
  
Gravel and asphalt flew up in front of me as something crashed wildly into the ground. Aegis stuck his head up out of the small pit he had formed, already growing a few inches in height. Her comms went off with his voice.  
  
“Shatterbird has some kindof -" he coughed productively, "-Brute rating. She just kicked me out of the sky.”  
  
_What? Shatterbird shouldn’t have any super-strength…_  
  
A ball of fire hurtled towards me from in front. I leaped to the side, it was simple enough to dodge. My head rang as a fist connected with my ear and I spun. After-images of Burnscar faded from the smoldering fire beside me. My legs were kicked out from underneath me from behind and I spun as I fell, kicking wildly at the origin of the attack.  
  
My headset rang with voices, “Ichor!”  
  
“Clock, look out!”  
  
“Kid, stay low!”  
  
I pushed blood out from the suit, feeling it surge and gush as it enveloped the fires around me. I don’t know how Burnscar got so strong, but she can’t teleport without her fire. I’ll just douse the entire area. It would take time to generate enough blood to douse all her fires, but I could reduce her options pretty quickly in the meantime. Across the arena I saw Aegis weave under a blow from Burnscar and deliver an uppercut straight to her chin. Burnscar flew back in the air, hitting the concrete with a thud. She didn’t get back up. Siberian appeared a moment later, forcing Aegis to change from charging Burnscar to backing away carefully.  
  
I looked around. Kid Win was threading through Shatterbird’s storm of glass, firing at her as he threw out drones that deployed electric mines. They were being taken down as quickly as he was getting them out. Vista had gotten Aegis away from the Siberian and Jack Slash was just watching. Watching me.  
  
I poured my energy into my legs, preparing to dash for him.  
  
“Oh, I almost forgot to mention!”  
  
He spoke into the microphone and I paused. Shatterbird backed off in the sky and Siberian brought Burnscar over to him as she roused from her new found concussion.  
  
“Your dear old dad’s murderer! That was us, naturally. Fascinating tech he had, Bonesaw has really taken a...hankering to it. Did wonders for the crew as well. Well, the ones that could use a bit of a touch up. No point messing with the classics.” He placed a hand fondly on the Siberian’s shoulder.  
  
I stood still, trying to process it. _What? The S9 had been the ones to kill my Dad? How had they even found him?_ And they were using his Tinker tech...that’s how Shatterbird and Burnscar were suddenly throwing punches in between blasts of fire and glass. I felt tears well at the corners of my eyes. No, I thought I was done crying over Dad. _How could I….how could they…_  
  
“If you hadn’t started that little scuffle I might’ve forgotten. I must be getting old! I think we’ll be taking our leave now, ta-ta~”  
  
Shatterbird gathered them up in a large glass construct, all except for the Siberian who just disappeared. I stood there in stunned silence. How could this have happened? How, how, how? My father’s Tinker tech was his legacy. It was my way to improve the world. It had saved me and my friends and hundreds of people and they were twisting it to murder. They were twisting everything I was using. My blood started to boil under my skin, I could feel Junketsu pushing for me to kill them all. I whipped it under my control instantly but a part of me hesitated. Didn’t I want to end them? Junketsu rampaging wouldn’t help, but if I put everything on the line, surely I could get a few of them? I just needed a plan. Something safe wouldn’t work, nothing short of a stupid risk they wouldn’t foresee me taking...  
  
Aegis placed his hands around my shoulders and I faded back into the present.  
  
  


\---

  
  
Director Heathrow sat at the table looking distinctly troubled. It made sense, he had just inherited what he thought was a massive boon to his department and got the S9 instead. He had wanted to keep me benched to appease the Youth Guard and this had happened. The rest of the faces around the table weren’t any happier. Miss Militia’s eyes were concerned, the rest of her hidden by her scarf. Cache looked anxious, like we might be attacked at any moment. The rest of the New York Wards were at the far end of the table. We had been sat next to the Protectorate, a clear difference in expectations.  
  
Director Heathrow cleared his throat, gathering the attention of the room, “I see everyone is here. We don’t have much time so let’s cut to the chase. We have Alexandria coming in to assist since this is a class-S threat. Dragon and other heroes on the S-Class response list have indicated they’ll deploy here overnight as well. The rules that the S9 laid down are Ichor’s team and four other heroes. We don’t intend to play along with these rules for a single damn minute. Typically Jack has threatened a biological attack by Bonesaw if we break the rules. We’re going to need to play this carefully.”  
  
The room was silent, focused purely on the briefing. Even the usual slackers in the room were at attention. Would the unity fracture once we were in the field though? We hadn’t had time to really connect with the rest of the NYC Protectorate.  
  
“Ichor’s team will be joined by Miss Militia, Cache, Astrologer, and Prism. They are to follow Prism’s orders as she’ll be leading the operation. Their job will be to engage the S9 and put up the facade that we’re playing by the rules. Miss Militia and Astrologer specifically will be working together to look for kill shots on the more vulnerable members of the S9 and Cache will be our emergency defense plan.  
  
The rest of the Wards will be staying away from the fighting. If they see the S9 they are to report to console, evacuate civilians, and then evacuate themselves. I repeat, Wards are not to engage. Their job will be to maintain safe distances for civilians. While Ichor’s team distracts the Nine we will be co-ordinating a multi-pronged strike to disable them before they can retaliate for our breaking of the rules.”  
  
Jouster looked ready to contest the point, but stayed seated, fuming lightly in the back of the room. His team seemed to be trying to whisper to him.  
  
Director Heathrow pointed to us, “Do any of you have any reports from your initial engagement?”  
  
Aegis spoke up immediately, “Yes Sir. Shatterbird and Burnscar have noticeable Brute ratings. Based off what Jack said it’s reasonable to expect the rest of the S9 has been altered similarly.”  
  
Everyone in the room frowned. Those who hadn’t been at the press event wouldn’t have known, we had only just returned and convened after all. Having felt Burnscar’s blows it was no joke. She couldn’t beat me straight out, but she definitely had super strength now. Keeping morale up was hard enough with the S9 in town, but having them be even tougher than usual...I had to wonder how much help we could really count on. If everyone split apart before the fight even began then any chance we had at winning would evaporate with them.  
  
Heathrow gestured with his hands for Aegis to continue, “Any more info on that? Do we know the origin? Did they acquire a Trump?”  
  
Aegis paused, looking between me and the Director, “I, uh, I’m not sure if-” I gave a nod to him to just get it over with, “Well Sir, Jack said that he was responsible for the death of Ichor’s father and they acquired some of his Tinkertech at the time. If I had to guess they’ve gotten similar upgrades as to what we got.”  
  
The Director thinned his lips, looking to me, “Ichor, is there anything you can add to this?”  
  
I shook my head. I still wasn’t sure what to do with the information. I didn’t know any sort of counter to the suits, we hadn’t gotten very far into testing before we had been forced to deploy them. For all I knew they didn’t even go the same route with making them that we did.  
  
He sighed, “This would be a great time for you to change your mind on letting the PRT experiment with your tech. I know you’ve provisionally been given Tinker 0 but we have real Tinkers who might be able to work out countermeasures.”  
  
Countermeasures which would almost certainly be able to work against me and my team as well. A foot in the door for the PRT to bastardize my Dad’s tech just like the S9 had. A chance for them to take away my only Trump card for my tenuous rising position.  
  
Legally they couldn’t make me. The terms I had set months ago were still protecting me. I had the legal authority over all my Dad’s tech and they couldn’t do anything about that short of breaching my contract as a Ward. Doing so would free me from their thrall as my legal guardians and give me a reason to leave the Wards. I didn’t want to, but they also didn’t want to risk me taking everything I had and running. The Youth Guard had been watching me closely ever since Leviathan to boot. They could do it, maybe, but it would’ve been a hell of a fight to take on.  
  
I shook my head, “Sorry Sir, no can do. It wouldn’t go the way you’re thinking.”  
  
Heathrow furrowed his brow, “As you’ve said before, but still haven’t elaborated on.”  
  
I placed my palms up in resignation, “Call it intuition.”  
  
Jouster called out from the back, “Bullshit!”  
  
Prism shot a glare back at him, “Jouster, shut up. I swear to god...” She let the threat trail off and looked to the Director, “I don’t think this is helpful Director.”  
  
He raised his eyebrows to her, “Knowing exactly how her tech works when the enemy has it seems incredibly helpful to me.”  
  
She frowned, “We’ve been over this a dozen times already. If she has her reasons after all this time, they must be good. Re-hashing this right now, here-" she gestured to the room full of capes who were watching attentively,"-isn’t helpful.”  
  
The Director frowned back at her and switched to give me a hard look, “I should also mention at this time that you will be undergoing review for starting a fight with the Nine in a crowded square.”  
  
I protested, “I had faith in the PRT and Aegis to move the civilians to a safe distance. I also had what appeared to be a clear shot at Jack Slash.”  
  
The Director whipped his arm in a cutting motion, “There are no clear shots at Jack Slash. A decade of killings has taught us that anything that appears to be a clear shot is also very clearly a trap. That’s important for everyone in this room for the coming days. You’re a Ward, you don’t engage an S-Class threat without permission. That goes for all Wards.”  
  
I stared at him, I caught Prism shooting him a glare at the same time. I couldn’t back down on my decisions. My engagement had given us important information about the Nine we wouldn’t have had otherwise. No one had been injured or killed. If I had been successful in taking down even one of the Nine it would’ve been an outstanding success. The PRT just wasn’t willing to take the risks or steps necessary to actually change things. That’s why I had to change them, so that they could start changing the world for the better. I was getting awfully tired of having to fight every Director in the organization that I met. Granted I had only met two so far, but it was a tiresome trend.  
  
_Patience, Taylor. You can overthrow the PRT and enact massive reform later. Just keep repeating that to yourself and you can make it. Heroes don’t go out starting bloody coup d'etats when they get impatient. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, silence the intrusive thoughts, breathe out._  
  
He waved off my refusal to acknowledge him dismissively, “Moving on then. Our biggest concern is Jack’s retribution if we break the rules. Typically that’s been Bonesaw releasing a plague on the city and we have no reason to suspect differently for now. We’re preemptively calling in a few healers just in case, but we’re hoping to take down Bonesaw first. If we can get her restrained or down then we have free run on the rest of the Nine. So that’s everyone’s priority target: You see a shot on Bonesaw, you take it.”  
  
Prism spoke up from the table, “What about the chance she’ll have a plague on her?”  
  
Heathrow shook his head, “We’re taking that risk. Even a localized plague would be worth taking out any future risk of her turning an entire city into a biohazard. I’m confident that between the PRT, Protectorate, and CDC that we can keep her contained here.”  
  
There was a grim air to the room. Heathrow had essentially just signed off on potentially killing hundreds of civilians in order to take out Bonesaw. Even if we could contain one of her bioweapons the chance we could do so with no civilian losses was bad. No one liked it, but everyone in the room also understood the reasoning behind it. Bonesaw had protected the Nine ever since she joined. The threat she posed with her plagues and bioweapons meant that failure to play along with the Nine well enough could result in the loss of a city or state. She was even more dangerous than the Siberian just in terms of the scale of her potential destruction.  
  
I was a bit surprised. I hadn’t thought Heathrow the type of Director to take that kind of risk, but maybe I had under-estimated him. It was still unacceptable to think that the ‘best’ we could do was only have a few hundred people die potentially. Again and again it came back to this. No matter what I did it never was enough. Dennis put a hand on my arm, a look of concern crossing his face. I noticed my knuckles were white and I released my grip.  
  
Heathrow continued, “We’re going to be treating this like the S-class threat it is. That means full M/S protocols are in effect, you will be cooperating with PRT strike teams, and Alexandria is the top of the Protectorate chain of command. If you have any questions ask your immediate leader. I don’t like this anymore than the rest of you and by god let’s have them regret fucking with New York.”  
  
He finished and turned, heading out of the room, flanked by four PRT troopers. They really upped the security for him, even with the Nine theoretically not starting their spree until tomorrow. The rest of the Wards started to file out of the room, chattering already starting up amongst them. The younger ones looked scared and I suspect were considering changing their choice to be on active duty. Like any S-class threat the Wards could opt out. Except for my team, since the S-class threat had decided to target us specifically.  
  
Prism stepped up and over to us, flanked by Miss Militia, Cache, and Astrologer. I felt...okay with them. Astrologer and Miss Militia were clearly for long-range attacks and that was a solid idea. If we could eliminate even one of the Nine it would give us an advantage. Cache was great for versatility and escape. And Prism? Well she was Legend’s protege, if anyone could take lead her it would be her. I was a bit curious why Alexandria hadn’t been placed on the team, however. The Nine hadn’t prohibited it and she’d definitely be able to take point against them. _It’s not like she’d abandon me to take lead against another S-class threat for no good reason whatsoever, right?_  
  
I didn’t like where that train of thought was going. Prism interrupted, clapping her hands together.  
  
“Alright, we don’t have much time so here’s the deal. You guys are getting in-depth briefings about each of the Nine and we’re spending a few hours hashing out counter-strategies to each of them. We do all this before tomorrow and make sure that when they show up we can hit them hard and fast.”  
  
It was going to be a long evening.  
  


  
\---  
  
  
\--Two minutes later--

  
  
Prism spoke as we walked in, “Sorry about that. I’ll have to talk with him later.”  
  
I brushed past her to get to one of the seats a bit further from the head of the table and muttered, “Thanks.”  
  
I wasn’t sure how to respond really to that. She seemed genuine and it was nice to know she supported me. It took some of the sting away at least. I just didn’t know her that well, I didn’t know if what she said actually meant something in the long run.  
  
We moved to a slightly smaller meeting room in an inglorious shuffling of notes, papers, and manilla folders. Prism sat at the head of the table, flanked by Miss Militia and Cache. Astrologer sat next to me, Aegis on my other side. Clock naturally took the furthest seat and then the table swung back around with Kid and Vista. A projector screen was unfurled behind Prism. Simple, but it’d do the trick.  
  
Prism spoke, her voice had changed from casual to commanding once the Nine hit, “We’re going through the Nine one at a time. Each of you will have members you work best against. When we have sights on them it’ll be your job to engage as best you can.”  
  
Everyone at the table nodded. The first picture came up on the projector. A petite, young looking girl. The picture had been clearly taken from an angle where the girl was unaware.  
  
“Cherish. Newest member of the Nine. Only seen from the fringes during the Nine’s pit-stop in a small town in upstate New York. Powers unknown, but with the disappearance of Hatchet Face at the same time it’s presumed she had took him down as part of her induction. Possibly a Trump or a long range Blaster, given that she would’ve needed to avoid Hatchet Face’s nullifying aura. Very little is known about her, we consider her a medium priority target. High priority on discovering her power set and then we can adjust priorities from there.”  
  
Kid Win raised a hand. Prism nodded to him, “Yes Kid?”  
  
He spoke, a tinge of nervousness under his conviction, “I think I can take her. If she’s a Trump she probably can’t affect my tech and if she’s a Blaster I have gear to deal with that. I’m versatile so I should take the wildcard, right?”  
  
“Yeah. That makes sense. Miss Militia will also have priority on her. Militia, you’ll be on all except Crawler and Siberian. That okay?”  
  
Miss Militia nodded through the scarf, “Of course. I’m a bit worried by the Brute rating that they’ve demonstrated. I’m not sure how much damage I’ll be able to do.”  
  
Astrologer chimed in, “Same for me honestly. If they hit hard enough to faze Aegis then I may not be able to do much.  
  
Aegis cut in politely, “The first hit got me due to surprise. I was able to land a solid hit on Burnscar and she was out of it for a half minute. I think they’re stronger, but I don’t think they can stand up toe-to-toe with an actual Brute.”  
  
Miss Militia replied, “That’s good to hear. We sure don’t need the Nine being full Brutes on top of everything else they can already field.”  
  
“So we have Kid Win on priority for Cherish with Miss Militia and Astrologer providing secondary.” Prism took back over. “Next is Burnscar. Blaster 7, Shaker 6, Mover 2. A pyrokinetic, she can create fire in pretty much any size or shape she wants and it has a tendency to spread more rapidly than normal. She can also move freely through any fire she sees, giving her effectively short-range line-of-sight based teleportation once she’s set the field. From her files from the Asylum she also loses control over her impulsiveness the more she indulges in her power, creating a positive feedback loop. Like Crawler, Shatterbird, and Siberian she’s stronger the longer she stays on the field.”  
  
I raised my hand, “I can handle her. I can use my blood to douse her flames and I can handle her new Brute rating.”  
  
There were nods around the table. “That makes sense. I’ll also put myself on priority for her. My power is well suited to handling short range Movers. As per usual, Miss Militia and Astrologer have secondary priority.”  
  
“Next up: Shatterbird. Shaker 10, Mover 3, Thinker 1. Silicakinetic, can control any silicon based materials. We’re lucky she’d didn’t do her scream and trash the city or else most of our communication equipment would be down. All of our team will be getting specialized communication links that aren’t silicon based. She is already very durable due to her glass shields and can fly using her glass. We need a flyer with decent durability to put her down.” She looked expectantly to Aegis  
  
Aegis bowed his head, “I’m not sure I can take her down, but I can keep her busy at least.”  
  
Prism smiled, “That’s all we’re asking for. No one expects you guys to end the Nine. We just want you to survive this. Unfortunately you can’t bow out of this.”  
  
Kid Win raised his hand again, “I can help with her too. I can fly and use my drones to harass her.”  
  
Vista nudged Kid, “And how much of your stuff uses silicon?”  
  
Kid wilted at that, “Oh. Right, duh.”  
  
Miss Militia looked to Kid, “I’d suggest Kid actually avoid engaging Shatterbird as much as possible.” He nodded immediately, obviously realizing how much of a liability he'd be.  
  
Prism gave a nod of agreement, “Agreed. Aegis on priority for Shatterbird, Miss Militia and Astrologer on secondary, Kid Win to avoid.”  
  
“Next: Mannequin.” She quelled a look of disgust. “Tinker 9. Completely self-contained Tinker-tech body. No one knows which pieces are critical, if any. He typically targets Tinkers or idealists and favors ambush tactics and traps. We don’t know whether he’s modified or not, so we have to play safe and gauge if he’s changed at all. Deadly in close quarters combat, which for him is approximately 15 feet. I’ll be taking him as well.”  
  
I spoke up, “I’ll take him as well. I doubt he can move faster than me and if I can out-maneuver him then I shouldn’t get caught.”  
  
“True. So myself and Ichor on priority for Mannequin. Aegis on secondary.”  
  
“That puts Crawler and Siberian next. We’re grouping them together because we should work under the assumption of containment rather than defeat for them. Both are Brute 10, we can assume Crawler’s immune to all conventional firearms at this points and most unconventional ones. Exotic forms of radiation might damage him, but he adapts quickly enough that it’s possible nothing will work fast enough. Siberian has never been known to take damage. The priority team for these two will be Clockblocker and Cache, with Vista providing mobility. We’re hoping the more esoteric effects of your powers will give them some difficulty. Clockblocker can create barriers that might contain them and ideally tag Crawler. Clockblocker, refrain from trying to tag Siberian directly until we have a better idea on how your powers interact.”  
  
Clockblocker approved vigorously, “Sure thing, not overly eager to lose my hand.”  
  
Vista joined in, “What about me? I’m not primary priority for any of the Nine. I don’t see you putting me as priority for Bonesaw or Jack Slash at least.”  
  
“Unfortunately while your powerset is versatile, you’re not well suited to counter any of the Nine directly. What do you want to be on priority for?”  
  
“Jack Slash. He only projects blades. I can control distance, isolate him. He can cut across space, but I am space. I should win out on that.”  
  
“Jack Slash is the most experienced of the Nine. Even the Triumvirate hasn’t been able to take him down. I can’t have assign the youngest member of the team to handling Jack Slash. I’m not sure I could assign any of us to handle him in good conscience frankly.”  
  
Vista stood up, “Someone has to! If he’s left free in a fight he’ll tear us apart. I can support Clockblocker and Cache while keeping him busy. I’m the only one with enough range to manage it.”  
  
I folded my arms, “Vista’s right. Miss Militia and Astrologer will have their hands full with the more vulnerable Nine, Clockblocker and Cache are critical to stopping Crawler and Siberian, and Aegis, Kid Win, and you and me are really only able to take one on at a time. Vista has to take someone and Jack is probably the least immediately lethal of any of them.”  
  
Cache spoke up, “I have every confidence in Vista, but that’s pitting a twelve year old girl against the leader of the world’s most successful serial killers in history. Surely you can see why we can’t reasonably agree?”  
  
Astrologer added on, “Even if we agree with your logic, Prism is the only one who has the experience and position to confront Jack Slash directly. Vista is critical for controlling the battlefield in any engagements she’s near. Much like myself her power excels as a supportive one.“  
  
Vista argued back, “Prism will be busy with Mannequin and Burnscar potentially!”  
  
Prism shook her head, “I trust Ichor to handle Burnscar if Jack Slash appears at the same time. I’ll be the only one authorized to engage Jack Slash. Vista is too important for setting up Clockblocker and Cache to neutralize the Siberian and Crawler. Jack frankly isn't as important as keeping those two off our backs and contained. I’m sorry, but that’s the end of the discussion.”  
  
I snorted lightly at that. It may not be ideal from a PR perspective, but Vista was right. She was the best out of us for dealing with Jack Slash, the rest of us were needed to counter specific members of the Nine. She had the skill to multitask well and could control multiple fights if they were close enough together, she could do more than just support. Vista had immediately picked up on the tactical hole in our plan. _She’s got a stronger mind for strategy than most of us. _  
  
Prism cleared her throat, “Since we skipped Jack Slash, lastly we have Bonesaw. Tinker 8, though if she ever actually does release a widespread plague she’ll be immediately upped to Tinker 10. She’s a biotinker, she can make constructs out of people, alter herself and others, and have spider bots that assist her and can attack. If Jack is the King in a chess game, she’s the Queen. She’s his trump card and can patch up any of the Nine we injure. Hell, she can even resurrect any we kill to a degree. Without her down, we’re heavily limited in how we can hit them and how much we can make them hurt. Priority for her will be myself, Ichor, Aegis, Kid Win. Secondary will be Miss Militia. Clockblocker, Vista, and Cache will be critical for distancing her from Siberian who typically protects her. Astrologer and Miss Militia will be tasked with suppressing fire on the rest of the Nine that may be present. Bonesaw is top priority, she trumps all other targets.”  
  
Clockblocker raised his hand, “Wouldn’t Siberian be the Queen? What with the whole strongest piece on the board.”  
  
Miss Militia shook her head, “The Siberian is more like the squares on the table. She’s basically a force of nature, something you work around rather than fight. We can’t assume that she can be removed from play.”  
  
Clockblocker nodded contemplatively to that.  
  
It was a fair assessment. Alexandria was the closest thing the Protectorate had to invincible and even she hadn’t been able to hurt the Siberian. We just had to treat her like we would the weather. I wanted to think that everyone had a weakness, that no power was perfect, but clearly some powers were stronger than others. Alexandria would beat Aegis in pretty much any contest, she was simply the better Brute. Powers weren’t fair and it was possible someone was just unbeatable. I didn’t like it, but I had to consider it a possibility. The other possibility was that she had a weakness, it was just really hard to find. Bet on the first, hope for the latter.  
  
Prism nodded, “Alright, that’s all nine of them. Are there any questions? We can use the next hour to hash out specific concerns.”  
  
There was a shaking of heads. I imagined a few of us had concerns but we’d wait for further into the finalizing session to hash them out. Nothing was overly pressing at the moment besides the slow countdown to the turnover to tomorrow. Just small particulars of power synergies, niche scenarios, and so on.  
  
A red light strobed over the door and a speaker buzzed to life, “M/S protocols triggered. Please remain seated and await further instructions.”  
  



	18. Chapter 12: Spit Your Sadness Away

### Chapter 12: Spit Your Sadness Away

  
  
“What’s going on?” Prism shouted at the intercomm.  
  
We were treated to silence in reply. Master-Stranger protocols had been triggered. I didn’t know if it was due to us or not though. It was possible something had set off the alarms for our room and being a Stranger effect we were unaware of it. It was also possible there was a Stranger effect outside the room and they were quarantining us temporarily to protect us from it. We had no way to know which it was, Strangers by their very nature could have compromised our ability to tell. That didn’t even start with all the ways a Master could remotely fuck with us.  
  
I looked around the room. The Protectorate heroes were sitting tight, Prism and Astrologer were speaking in low tones I couldn’t make out, but appeared calm. Miss Militia and Cache merely sat quietly. On the other hand, my friends weren’t doing quite so well. Kid Win and Clockblocker both looked distinctly uneasy, eyes flitting around as they scanned the room. Vista looked calm but after a moment I noticed she had warped the space around her subtlely to make it harder to aim anything at her. So she must be feeling uneasy as well and was just hiding it better. Aegis was doing his best to stay seated and calm, glancing over to me.  
  
I was a bit tense myself. We had just laid out the main tenets of our strategy against the Nine and now there was a possible Master or Stranger present. Our entire plan could be compromised if they were listening in to Director Heathrow’s arrangements as well. This was as far from good as possible.  
  
Aegis spoke up, “I thought there was a truce for S-Class threats?”  
  
Miss Militia replied, “There is. This means someone has broken the truce possibly.”  
  
Vista shook her head violently, drawing everyone’s attention, “No...it doesn’t.”  
  
There was a pregnant pause in the room as everyone looked to Vista.  
  
“What if it’s the Nine? They’ve changed so much since our last reports of them. Who else would be responsible?”  
  
A lot of frowns and furrowed brows appeared. Brows were creased in thought as everyone started to imagine worst case scenarios. There were a lot of them. The Nine had always been particularly scary when they had someone like Nice Guy with them. Or if they had acquired someone with Heartbreaker like powers.  
  
The intercom buzzed, “Thank you for your patience. Could all of you, one at a time, please state the number of members in the Slaughterhouse Nine?”  
  
A chorus of “Eight”s rang out from the Protectorate members followed by “Nine”s from the Wards. We looked at each other in confusion.  
  
“Those who answered nine, can one of you name them all?”  
  
Clockblocker started, “Jack Slash, Bonesaw, Siberian, Crawler, Mannequin, Burnscar, Shatterbird, and Cherish.”  
  
“And how many is that?”  
  
“Nin-wait...not. Uh...eight?” He suddenly scrunched his brow in focus, putting a hand to his temple.  
  
“Why did you say nine then?”  
  
“Jack Slash said nine and for some reason I just felt like there were...” He looked distressed, eyes darting around like he was looking for an answer.  
  
The Protectorate members were looking concerned over at us. I was looking concerned too. I had said nine. Something in my head had been convinced there was a ninth member when there were very clearly eight. I knew Jack Slash had said nine versus nine, but that shouldn’t have messed with my ability to keep track of them. It shouldn’t have messed with the thinking of everyone who had been there either.  
  
The intercom buzzed monotonal, “Thank you. Please wait for further instructions.”  
  
Fuck. _Not good. We don’t know if they have a new member or what’. This is just going to make planning even harder, which is probably exactly what he wants. He works by keeping us off balance and then hitting us from the sides or behind._  
  
The intercom returned, “Would the Protectorate members in the room please step outside?”  
  
Prism, Miss Militia, Astrologer, and Cache all stood, making their way out carefully. My friends looked at each other in varying mixes of concern and worry. I couldn’t blame them, it was a bad start. I had to be strong for them though. I swallowed my mounting anxiety. That’s right, I had to lead by example. I needed to keep things together.  
  
I spoke up, “Don’t worry guys. We’ll probably just have to go through some basic screening and we’ll be back out.”  
  
Aegis nodded along with that as if it gave him something to latch onto, “Yeah. We should use this break to get some rest. Maybe take a quick nap while they figure out what to do.”  
  
Clockblocker gave a shrug, eyes strained in a bit of anxiety, “Yeah, sure. Might as well at this point, right?” He let his upper torso slam down onto the table, head included. Face-down on the table like a turned off robot. Kid Win looked at him, then back to me. I shrugged.  
  
Aegis had a fair point. We might not get much sleep tonight or for the next few days and typically M/S protocols were slow going. I leaned back in my chair, folded my arms, and closed my eyes. I wasn’t ready to sleep, but it would help the rest follow along. Instead I could mentally hash out what Jack’s game was.  
  
He had said it was a game, right? Nine versus nine, on the basis we both used my Dad’s tech to augment our abilities. One borough a day, for five days. The Nine liked to be unpredictable, chaotic. So what was the plan? Were they just going to hit up Queens tomorrow and start killing people? Would there be traps and themes? It almost certainly wouldn’t just be a brawl, that wasn’t how they worked.  
  
I couldn’t plan against them if I didn’t have an inkling of what they’d do, and besides murder people horrifically I had little idea. What was I supposed to do? Leviathan I could kind of plan for, even if it had been on the fly. The Nine changed so much with each member added or lost and tended to only set expectations just so they could break them. I wanted to go on the offensive, but not only did that involve finding them first but also getting the PRT to sanction it.  
  
The PRT certainly wouldn’t sanction something that aggressive with Wards. I imagined the DIrector was none too happy about needing to include us anyway. I supposed I should be happy he was letting us still fight at all. He could’ve been more unreasonable and tried to remove us from play entirely. But sitting around and waiting for the Nine to show was what the PRT had done for years and it hadn’t worked. Why would it work this time?  
  
I suppressed a sigh. I just couldn’t see it working. I guessed I shouldn’t be surprised that the PRT was sticking with the standard options._ Call in Triumvirate, wait and see. Even if they do take some risks this time like focusing on Bonesaw, will it be enough? And that’s only because they deliberated targeted a Wards team that anyone is even pushing for more extreme measures. Nothing changes in the long run._  
  
I stewed in my chair, frustrated at my lack of ability to solve any of the problems that swirled around in my head. All my plans were too long-term to help with the current situation. The last I had heard from Tattletale was that things were progressing well and to expect an update sometime in the next few days. Parian was doing well in Boston, but she had no desire to be part of my larger plan again after the fight with Leviathan. It had shaken her pretty badly and I was lucky she was still willing to run tests on the prototype suit she had. I didn’t have any short term contingencies and that was something I desperately needed to fix assuming we all survived this. I was trying to not directly face the fact of how many capes the Nine had killed. We had barely pulled through Leviathan, I didn’t want to lose any of the Wards here.  
  
At some point, the intercomm buzzed and the door opened. I opened my eyes, seeing the Wards groggily pull their heads up and do the same. Director Heathrow and Prism stood there, looking in with hard expressions.  
  
I spoke first, “Are we cleared to go?”  
  
Director Heathrow shook his head, “No. There are still several steps in the protocol. However, you won’t be doing them. Three bodies have been found in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Judging from their...condition, we suspect the Nine have begun.”  
  
“But it isn’t even tomorrow yet!” Vista exclaimed as she roused herself to alertness.  
  
Heathrow frowned, “Unfortunately Jack Slash seems to have used that term literally. The bodies were discovered at 00:25 a.m. or ten minutes ago. We don’t have time for the protocols so I’m overriding them. You all will be deploying to the scene. Assume that the Nine will be targeting both you and civilians.”  
  
I squeezed my hand into a fist under the table. This was exactly what I had been worried about. The Nine were already trying to throw us off balance. We had to assume Jack Slash would twist any promises he made to be true only in a certain sense.  
  
Prism waved us on, “Come on, I know it’s not what we hoped for, but we can do this. Get anything you need and meet on the helipad in five minutes.”  
  
Everyone got up and rushed out. There was no time to think about our new situation. I jogged with the rest of the team to the elevator which quickly brought us up to the Wards HQ. I made my way to my footlocker in my room, grabbing the sword I had gotten during the Leviathan fight. The Tinker I got it from hadn’t been among the recovered injured, I had no idea if they lived or died. I hope they had survived, it was only thanks to their work that I had done as much damage as I did. I didn’t really need anything else, I had my costume on and the sword was the main extra accessory I used. I had a headset for communications, my mask, and my blood.  
  
Kid Win was desperately pulling gadgets from his workshop and slotting them onto his belt, his backpack, and his hoverboard. He seemed to be trying to add almost everything he had finished on at once. Dennis had grabbed a first aid kit and shoved it in his backpack. A good call, since he usually had to freeze people who needed emergency medical attention. Vista was fretting at the edges of the room, looking prepared but anxious. Aegis seemed to be momentarily debating whether to take some equipment but left it. He probably anticipated getting too large or skewered to make much use of anything other than his fists.  
  
I slid the blade into the sheath that I clipped to the weird mini-skirt my costume always made and walked for the elevator, the rest folding in behind me.  
  
Chris commented with an anxious dryness, “So what’s the plan?”  
  
Dennis replied, “We go in, we fuck them up for messing up our big debut, and we get some shiny medals and interviews.”  
  
“No one’s allowed to die, got it?” Vista commanded.  
  
“Or eaten,” Dennis added.  
  
Aegis cracked a smile, “Yes Ma’am.”  
  
I smiled to myself as we got in the elevator, which quietly hummed as it made its way towards the roof. These were my friends, my team. I had trouble trusting the Protectorate after everything that had happened, I had trouble trusting most people. But I trusted them absolutely.  
  
“So, uh, what about the whole M/S thing?”  
  
“We can’t do anything about it right now so we might as well leave it.” Vista seemed to have prioritized everything mentally already.  
  
I spoke, “Agreed. If you see anything strange, report it, but until we know more it won’t help to worry over it. Let’s just focus on taking down the Nine. Stay near each other.”  
  
There was a round of agreement and we stepped out onto the helipad. The helicopter was already running, rotors whipping the air violently. There was no more time to fret. We took to the air shortly after we got in, the Protectorate members of our team already loaded up inside. Miss Militia took a position by the side, her pistol shifting green as it turned into a machine gun of some sort. She was scanning the ground below us as we flew out over the night lights of the city. The city was still bustling below, night being no barrier for the city that never slept. I could see the appeal, there was enough artificial light that it never really felt that dark. There were enough shops open and enough security that the city simply didn’t need to stop. There was nothing too scary in the dark, unlike Brockton Bay.  
  
Well, there had been nothing too scary. The Nine had clearly changed things there. I wondered why people were still out. Had the PRT not sent out a notice? Did they just not care? Maybe they figured in a city of over ten million that the chances of the Nine bothering them was low. To be fair, it probably was. It was either all or nothing. Either the Nine upped the ante and attacked the entire city or the victims would be relatively few, if gruesome.  
  
We came down slowly, staying clear of the overpass that covered the intersection we had been headed to, Utrecht Ave and 44th Street. The Fort Hamilton Parkway ran over the intersection, small businesses fairly quiet at this time of night. I suspected any that had been open had quickly closed when the discovery of the Nine’s first victims had been made. It was the kind of neighborhood where news spread quickly from neighbor to neighbor. Not a bad neighborhood so much as just a working class one, where people were more keen to rely on each other than the local government.  
  
The corner store that the report came from was cordoned off behind police tape and flashing sirens. Our first clue was how quiet it was despite being in the middle of a busy street. Sure it was past midnight, but an incident like this usually generated noise. Police debating details, people collecting witness statements, people gawking. Besides the quiet, closed shops there were also no bystanders, no gawkers, and no police beyond the patrol cars.  
  
We fell into a vague diamond formation. Prism took point with Miss Militia at the rear and Cache and Astrologer handling the sides. It chafed a bit that they didn’t let the Brutes in the group take the points. If anyone could take a sudden hit, it would be us. We proceeded cautiously towards the storefront, keeping our eyes open and our mouths shut. No one wanted to break the silent tension and we all understood what was going on well enough to not need to.  
  
We found the police a minute later, strung up next to the initial victims. Nine in total, hung like displays from a crucifix around the store. Each one had some kind of imagery associated with it. One mutilated with a Chelsea grin, looking like it was both laughing and crying together in absurd proportions. Another horrifically obese, desperately reaching for the rest with the ropes cutting into its fat. I didn’t care to observe the rest, I didn’t need to get pulled into whatever fucked up art display the Nine thought they were putting on here.  
  
I was about to avert my eyes when a shimmer of red caught my attention. I started to walk towards the nearest display to get a better look.  
  
“Ichor, what are you doing?” A voice from behind called out.  
  
I turned, I had forgotten how it would look to the rest of the group. “I think I see something. I’m checking it out.”  
  
“Ichor, wait-”  
  
There was a flash of green followed by a crack and a bang. A bullet sped past my head from Miss Militia’s rifle and something behind me crashed. I spun back around, holding my blade out defensively. The body I had been about to inspect was on the floor behind me, a bright red hole in the chest from where Miss Militia had shot it. As I watched it started to twitch, pulling itself up at impossible angles for a normal body. The hole in it pulsed red within, bright as fresh blood but almost luminous, and began to close.  
  
“Everyone, back up! Defensive formation!” Prism shouted over the groaning of wood and plastic and metal as the other corpses in the store started to pull free of their displays. I had to hope they were corpses and the people the Nine had attacked weren’t still stuck in there somehow.  
  
“Take them down, carefully. We don’t know what traps they might have. Cache, update HQ, have them expand the perimeter.”  
  
Cache pressed a hand to his ear, “Yes Ma’am.” He drifted into a hushed voice as he spoke into his comm.  
  
Miss Militia fired with what looked to be some sort of high-caliber rifle into the first body, the one that I had been about to inspect. It reeled back from the shots, holes being torn in it as the shots went through. The holes were larger than the previous one and started to close but stopped partway. They were smaller, but they didn’t finish repairing. The interior of the wounds glowed a bright red that certainly was not help the already horror-esque atmosphere.  
  
The crack of her rifle was everyone’s cue to shift from stock-still surprise to action. Kid Win pelted two down with his laser pistols, easily hitting his shots at this range. Aegis simply grabbed another two, slamming them together with one in each hand. Prism split into three, each copy taking one down before rejoining and taking down a fourth. And in an instant that was all of them. No nasty turn surprises so far…  
  
“Wow, geez, you guys really fucked ‘em up. Bonesaw is gonna be pissed they went down so easily.”  
  
We all swivelled to the source of the voice. A young black girl was sitting lazily on one of the counters. She was dressed in ripped jeans with a puffy jacket and had one of those over-the-top Halloween monster masks on, revealing her hair in black cornrows. In one hand she held a smartphone, clearly positioned to film the entire scene.  
  
Prism took lead, standing off between us and her, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”  
  
The girl spoke, “Oh, I’m Hard Knox and welcome to _Jackass_.”  
  
A cape name. The mask had been a clue, but the name sealed the deal. She was a parahuman of some sort. Judging by how she got to the back of the store without us noticing she either was sneaky, had been hiding the whole time, or had a power that helped her move around. Possibly a short range teleporter since she was so comfortable being surrounded by heroes.  
  
Prism’s voice got hard, “I assume you’re working with the Nine then?”  
  
She spoke in a voice laden with sarcasm, “Noooo, I’m just out here filming the heroes fighting some fucked-up experiments for kicks cause I’m bored. Well I guess I am kinda bored, so that last part is true. Anyway, fun fucking with ya, see you soooooon.”  
  
She disappeared and-_what was I doing just now? Those things started to move towards us, we took them down and then I guess we turned to check over here._ Everyone else looked around, checking for any other traps. We swept over the place slowly, staying in pairs and keeping close. Prism and Cache examined a few of the bodies while the rest of us kept our distance. It had been a bit creepy to say the least, but not terribly effective. They hadn’t moved fast or done much really that a regular house of horrors at a carnival wouldn’t do. I frowned to myself, it didn’t make much sense for the Nine.  
  
Prism stood up from where she had been kneeling to examine a body and spoke.  
  
“We’re going to split into groups of three. We can’t cover all of Brooklyn as a group and the Nine will already be on the move. They typically don’t stay as one big group, and they’ll have an easy time avoiding us if we do. Aegis, Astrologer, Cache are Team A. Myself, Kid Win, and Clockblocker are Team B. Ichor, Miss Militia, and Vista are Team C. Spread out and keep in constant contact. Limit your engagements, try to wait for the other two teams to reinforce you if you can help it. Teams with priority contacts should focus on engaging when their targets are sighted. Call in all sightings and all suspected sightings, now isn’t the time to worry about calling in a false sighting. Team A will head north, B will go east, C will head south. If you hit water, double back.”  
  
We headed out, Miss Militia taking the lead for our group as her rifle morphed in a green flash into something smaller, resembling a shotgun from what I knew of firearms. We headed south, walking down the lit streets that remained hauntingly quiet.  
  
One Brute and one Blaster per team for versatility with a third esoteric power in reserve. It was a good team set-up, so that no one one team was vulnerable to anything in particular. Prism definitely had a tactical sense I could respect. She had trained under Legend so it made sense. I paused for a moment. When I had gotten so confident that I was critiquing someone who trained under Legend directly? Months ago I would’ve been fanboying just seeing her. Well, I wouldn’t have because of the depression, but I would’ve if not for that.  
  
It was an odd thought that I considered myself to be on their level subconsciously. I had less than a year of experience. Yet I didn’t think my subconscious was entirely off base. I had fought Leviathan, Lung, and others. When I looked back I thought about how my mindset shifted from stubborn obstinance to confident, almost arrogant in ways. Had getting powers really changed me so quickly? Or was this just what I would’ve grown up like if Emma hadn’t been beating me down every day for over a year?  
  
I _liked_ being confident. I didn’t constantly fret or fear others. I made decisions and people listened. They usually even approved. My decisions had saved hundreds, if not thousands, by now. I had to be confident if I wanted to reform the PRT, they wouldn’t listen to someone who softballed everything. I wasn’t sure if it was who I wanted to be, but it had been who I needed to be. Who I still needed to be.  
  
Jack Slash would tear me apart if I showed weakness. I couldn’t be weak here. People had been hurt before when I was weak, when I hesitated. _That’s right._ That’s another part of why I had pushed myself so hard to be confident, to be strong.  
  
As we walked along the streets, the clock was ticking. We kept a steady pace, Vista warping the streets regularly so that our walk actually moved at the pace of a rather fast run. We didn’t want to go too quickly, we didn’t know where any of the Nine might hide and if we missed something then innocents could be hurt or killed.  
  
There was a tense silence. We could’ve talked, but it felt wrong. We were fighting deranged serial killers who could appear at any minute. Talking casually was something idiots did in horror movies and then got killed right after. So was splitting up, but we were at least reasonably smart about it. We also had our comms relay and console, whereas most horror movie victims forgot that cellphones and the police exist. Even if they got the jump on us, the other two teams would converge as quickly as possible and console would have our exact location.  
  
I breathed in and out slowly, keeping calm. Something wet dripped down my fingers and I nearly whipped my sword around as I spun in place, checking my sight-lines. Miss Militia dropped into a semi-crouch, raising her gun and sweeping across the area and I saw the street warp subtly as Vista distanced literally everything from us.  
  
“Ichor? What’s wrong?” Miss Militia asked in a steady tone.  
  
I looked down at my arm, blood was seeping from a deep cut in my forearm, dripping down to my fingers. The wound started to knit shut as the suit took care of it.  
  
“Ichor, you’re bleeding.” Vista said with a bit of a gasp.  
  
“Yeah...I’m pretty sure I didn’t get cut back in the store and it would’ve healed by now anyway.”  
  
“Miss Militia to console, Ichor has a minor wound, unidentified hostiles present.”  
  
“Were you shot you think?” Miss Militia wasn’t looking at me, still sweeping the area around us carefully.  
  
I shook my head, “Not that I noticed. I didn’t feel an impact or hear anything, I only noticed when it started to drip.”  
  
Vista looked around as well, “Started to drip? That sounds like it’s fresh then.”  
  
The wound on my arm closed as I watch it, “With my healing I’d have to guess it was only a few seconds before I noticed it.”  
  
We formed a circle with our backs to each other. That was very concerning. If we knew we were under attack it wouldn’t be so bad, but there had literally been no warning, no indication. And that was a bit unnerving.  
  
“Could it be Jack Slash? He can cut at range.” Vista proposed.  
  
Miss Militia shook her head slightly, “No. The cut was vertical. At that angle if it had been Jack Slash it should trace up the entire arm instead of a small spot. It looked like almost a regular stab wound.”  
  
I frowned, “That can’t be right. My kamui blocks pretty much anything normal. It would have to be a power or Tinker-tech.”  
  
Miss Militia nodded at that, “Exactly, and that’s why I’m worried. Stay alert, we have a hostile around.”  
  
We stayed in place, in the middle of the street, watching the surroundings carefully. Nothing moved, nothing even rustled. We looked to each other after a minute passed. We couldn’t stay here all night waiting for an unknown assailant.  
  
“Miss Militia to console. No further encounters. We’re moving forward.”  
  
VIsta released her hold on the surroundings, letting things snap back into place. We started to walk forward and Vista fell over next to me. I whipped my sword out, cutting the air over and behind her.  
  
Nothing was there.  
  
“Vista, are you ok?” Miss Militia knelt down to check on her as I kept watch.  
  
Vista nodded, “Yeah, I just tripped. Something pulled on my shoes.”  
  
She sat up, swinging her legs out from under her to sit in front of her. Her boots, usually laced up like any sort of combat boot and secure, were tied together. Miss Militia looked to me with a gleam in her eye of something I couldn’t place.  
  
“Miss Militia to console, activating Master/Stranger protocols, suspected Stranger present.”  
  
I cursed to myself. Strangers were something I wasn’t any good against. None of us had left each others’ sights since the shop, it couldn’t be any of us three. There were only supposed to be three of us and there were only three. Miss Militia was saying “Affirmative” occasionally back to console as she ran through some of the protocol. I started to push blood out through my costume, weaving a blood barrier a few inches high in a circle around us, rotating rapidly. I flattened it close to the ground and started to spread it out as I poured more blood in.  
  
If they were hiding, invisible or something, I could reveal them by having my blood surround us. They wouldn’t be able to approach without disturbing the perfectly serene surface. Suddenly my throat was on fire with pain and I felt my suit’s healing surge as blood poured out my throat. I bent over, coughing up globs of blood and hacking it out.  
  
“Miss Militia to console, Stranger is present and hostile. Several incidents of what appear to be close quarters attacks that we are only aware of after the fact. Requesting back-up.”  
  
I fought the rising tide of frustration and gathered my blood up, sending it into a vortex that covered the street around us, pelting anything and anyone stupid enough to stand within twenty feet of us. I felt my throat knit over and the rush of blood stop, hacking out the last of it with a few more coughs. Vista had her ‘baton’, or costume-matched crowbar, out and ready.  
  
“Ichor, you gonna be ok?” She asked with mounting concern.  
  
“Yeah, yeah I’ll be fine. I don’t know how they’re getting past my suit, but I should be able to heal from anything they can hit me with.”  
  
I wished I was as confident as I sounded. Short of Siberian or Crawler, I could probably survive any of the Nine. Except I had no idea what this Stranger’s powers were except making them very hard to find. We were stuck at a standstill, unable to move because of our mysterious attacker. I could leap up and avoid them, traveling by air, but I couldn’t easily carry both Miss Militia and Vista. I had the strength, but it would be awkward and painful for them to be carried in one arm a piece as I bounded through the air.  
  
Miss Militia spoke quietly, “Blue Dark Three.”  
  
I shielded my eyes in an instant. It was a simple code in part. The first word was a word that was part of a pattern of code-words, indicating she was really Miss Militia. The second word indicated the opposite of whatever she was about to do, so something bright or blinding. The last word was the number of seconds until we acted.  
  
Two seconds later a flashbang went off in the middle of us and she shouted.  
  
“Ichor, Vista, move!”  
  
She pointed down the street and went into a full sprint. Vista followed, short spurts of her power closing the gap between them and I simply ran, my suit letting me keep pace easily. I threw all the blood I had collected out behind and infront of us as two rapidly diverging waves. Wherever the Stranger was, we had to lose them. We didn’t know if they had a Mover rating or what, so we just had to book it and hope.  
  
“Yankee Straight Left Right Five!” She followed up over the comms.  
  
It wasn’t technically M/S safe as it had a pattern that could be derived after hearing multiple commands, but it would work for this situation. We started a serpentine pattern and took a hard right down the first alley we came to and then booked left out the other side onto a parallel street.  
  
At the end of the third block we booked it down the Siberian walked into view. Black and white stripes clear in the night as she took her own time. Only the breadth of a tall woman, yet it was clear that the entire end of the street was now blocked by her mere existence.  
  
“Ichor to console, Siberian at location.”  
  
“Console to Ichor, avoid engaging, Team B is en route to assist. Team A is engaged and unable to assist.”  
  
Miss Militia and Vista saw at the same time I did and we skidded to a halt. If the Siberian was here, we had to get out. None of our powers could hope to stop her.  
  
“Console to Team C. We have Jouster and Flechette reporting seeing Bonesaw abducting civilians four blocks directly west of you. They’re safe, but request extraction ASAP.”  
  
I looked to Miss Militia. Bonesaw was our top priority target and this was our first sighting of her. It had been two of the other Wards, probably enacting the clearance zone as our report of the Nine came in, who had spotted her. They weren’t cleared to engage, while we were. At the same time, it would mean trying to flee the Siberian or one of us getting left behind to fight her. Unenviable at best.  
  
Miss Militia spoke lowly, mostly via the headset, “We’ll make our way west and try to lose the Siberian.”  
  
I pursed my lips, “We won’t be able to lose her in only four blocks, and neither Jouster or Flechette are movers, they’ll be pulled into the fight.”  
  
She replied, “I can’t leave either of you to fight the Siberian or Bonesaw without me. They’ll remain hidden wherever they are at the moment.”  
  
I shook my head, “I’ll stay and distract the Siberian, you two can make it there and take Bonesaw down.”  
  
She cut me off almost immediately, “No, your power isn’t well-suited for that, it’s dangerously irresponsible.”  
  
The Siberian started to stalk towards us from the end of the block, slowly. We started to walk backwards.  
  
“We’re out of time, we can’t leave them and Bonesaw alone! She's our top priority.”  
  
Vista spoke, “Let Ichor go after Bonesaw. We can distract the Siberian. I can keep her away from us until Clock arrives. If the Siberian joins up with Bonesaw we’re screwed anyway.”  
  
Vista was right. I was faster in a city than she was and I had the strength and powers to possibly tackle Bonesaw alone. She could definitely dodge the Siberian with her space warping. It was why we had her teamed with the anti-Siberian unit. I didn’t like the idea of leaving her, but if we had a shot at Bonesaw...  
  
Miss Militia looked at us disapprovingly, “I can’t-”  
  
I bit down hard and spoke through my teeth, “I’m going. Split when we make the corner.”  
  
“Ichor, wait!”  
  
Vista warped us back to the edge of the nearest house. Or more appropriately, pulled the space between close so that we could simply step over and be near the house. As soon as we cut line of sight from the Siberian I bolted in a burst of explosive energy due west. I immediately called console back.  
  
“Ichor to console, coming to assist with Bonesaw.”  
  
“Roger that Ichor, you’re two blocks away. They should be hiding inside near the entrance to a large brick red building.”  
  
I bounded down the street, keeping low rather than going in the air. Last thing I needed was to get spotted and blow the entire operation. It took me moments to reach the block they were on, full of small businesses. I saw the brick red building, three stories tall and different enough to be obvious. I slowed, jogging as silently as I could up to the entrance. The door was slightly ajar, barely noticeable until you were right up next to it. I reached out, swinging it open slowly and hoping it didn’t creak. A small creak sent a shiver of panic down me before it was open enough for me to slide through sideways.  
  
Inside was a large furniture store, displays of couches, beds, tables, and set pieces everywhere. Shapes hidden in the dark, I couldn’t see much beyond the first few displays. I did see two familiar figures crouched behind a couch, not moving. A small wave towards me and I crouched down, dropping behind the couch. Jouster and Flechette looked pale with fright.  
  
They whispered, quickly and very very quietly.  
  
“We saw her! She was pulling civilians into the back!”  
  
“Is it safe to leave? Her spiderbots were everywhere. We couldn’t risk it.”  
  
I had to strain to hear them. They seemed so afraid of being heard by Bonesaw that they’d rather risk not being heard by me. I looked around, squinting my eyes in the darkness.  
  
“I didn’t see any spiders coming in. I think it’s clear, get out and head west as fast as you can.”  
  
They both nodded. Flechette started to look over the couch in preparation to get up and ducked back down.  
  
She hissed in panic, “She’s back!”  
  
I pointed to the door, “Go! I’ll handle her-”  
  
Something dropped onto my back and I felt sharp blades cut into the back of my shoulders and neck. Jouster screamed and Flechette kicked herself back and away. I struggled to reach behind my own back, my hands slipping on something hard and metallic. I felt dozens of tiny cuts going through my costume and healing as whatever it was attacked me. Something began to move at the other end of the room in the corner of my eye. My fingers groped for something to get a grip on, finding a small divot and I grabbed, hurling the thing across the room right for Bonesaw.  
  
I shouted, “Go, go!” and fashed forward, pulling tendrils of blood out to lance forward with me towards the dark figure.  
  
I lost my balance mid dash, tumbling and crashing into a bed, something had caught my ankles. I could feel more of the robots drop onto me, cutting at me. I whipped my blood around, battering them and throwing them off. Across the room I heard another shout.  
  
“Ichor!”  
  
I could see Flechette and Jouster by the doorway, Flechette being pulled by Jouster towards the exit as she seemed stuck on what to do. A blur flew past me as I thrashed under the pile of spiderbots, straight for Flechette. Jouster pulled Flechette back, spinning her behind him and I saw him crumple as whatever it was hit him in the back. Flechette tried to support him as a spiderbot went for her leg. She kicked out and sent it flying with surprising force, her pants leg was torn and metal gleamed underneath.  
  
I had to get up, I had to help, but each spider I threw off was replaced by another. My legs felt heavy and wouldn’t respond to my needs. I tried to swing out with my sword but my grip was weakening and I felt consciousness slipping away. My panicked mind tried desperately to hold onto it. If I lost consciousness now I would be at Bonesaw’s mercy. I might never wake up. That’d be the best case scenario.  
  
I saw Flechette pulling Jouster to the doorway, he was limp and unmoving.  
  
Something stood over me and giggled.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final scene theme: https://www.youtube.com/embed/1zAMJXZnJoY


	19. Interlude 6: Jack Slash

### Interlude 6: Jack Slash

  
Jack liked the idea overall. Take on the entire Protectorate in the biggest city in the US? Five nights at Jack’s? A massive campaign of terror and art in the most iconic city in the world, facing down the rising hopefuls that had caught the nation’s heart and crushing them just the same. Hitting them when they were off balance, the Protectorate adapting and the Adepts and Teeth both reeling from recent spates. It was elegant in many ways. The problem was that it wasn’t _his_ idea.  
  
No. It had been Bonesaw’s. And she had been rather insistent about it. Not playful insistent like she was about getting a big sister, but disturbingly insistent. She was reminding him a bit too much of Gray Boy and he certainly didn’t like it. Balancing the carrot and sticks of his group was an art in and of itself. Burnscar’s mental imbalances, Cherish’s ambitions and crushing despair, Crawler’s simplistic desire for strength. Balancing eight of the world’s most powerful and unbalanced parahumans was his challenge and carrot. And he was a bit upset to say that he was losing at the moment.  
  
Bonesaw just hadn’t been the same ever since she had discovered that Tinker’s work. There was the obvious, yes, with the speed and strength and newfound ability to seemingly break physics at a whim when she was not a Breaker, but it was more than that. She didn’t respond to his carrots as well and didn’t fear his sticks as much. She still wanted to be a good girl, she was still a needy, dependent child, but he just couldn’t maneuver her like he used to. He had handled Gray Boy just fine, despite the same problem. The deal breaker here was that Bonesaw was making it harder to handle the rest of the Nine as well.  
  
Crawler was still Crawler, Siberian still Siberian, but the rest of the Nine were acting...funny. Not ha ha funny. Not murderous funny. Just two degrees off from their usual selves. Two degrees that he kept missing when he reached for their marionette strings. With eight highly unstable psychopaths under one roof, two degrees was a lot to be off by.  
  
Oh, and Mannequin had flat out disappeared. He knew the Tinker hadn’t been caught and he doubted he had been killed since no one had claimed the fame of putting him down. No, he had just up and left. Up and left without a word right after Bonesaw started modifying the Nine with those fibers. Jack had just chalked it up to a hunting trip at first, then maybe a really long hunting trip, then maybe he fell into a pothole, then he had to admit that Mannequin had left. What had Mannequin seen in those fibers then?  
  
Jack hummed. No, he wasn’t sure about this business at all. He had to come to a decision, he decided. But it could wait until after his little task. Bonesaw so desperately wanted a big sister after all. And while she thought Ichor might make a good sister, she had a backup candidate she wanted just in case things didn’t work out the first time. It was sensibile really, the Ichor girl seemed rather high strung. Having a back-up was never a bad idea, it’s why the Nine typically nominated several candidates. Never really knew how many would work out, if any.  
  
And it had to be done tonight. He knew the Protectorate wouldn’t play ball with his little game for long. They’d already be calling in all the brave heroes the Nine often saw when they stuck around too long. But they’d play ball for the first bit, just long enough to get measures in place to deal with whatever threat he had. That was fine, it was expected. He only needed them to play along for the first few hours. All the groundwork had been laid out on the trip down and would be finished over the next few hours. Then they could break the rules all they wanted, because the Nine were surely going to do the same.  
  
Like always they just walked right into his waiting hands. A hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder and he almost cut it, if not for the quick return of memory associated with said hand. One of their two newest recruits that they had picked up from the Brockton Bay exodus. Knox was covered in blood and leaning against him. A long blade hung from her hip, reminding him of half a pair of scissors. It looked like her task hadn’t gone well.  
  
She whined, “Those fuckers hit me with a grenade!”  
  
He felt his lips curl into a playful smile, “Well you didn’t expect them to go easy, surely. Do you need Bonesaw?”  
  
She shook her head and then the rest of her, blood splattering the alleyway.  
  
“Nah, I texted her the results and the blood ain’t mine. Ichor hit me with a bunch of it while I was stunned. They didn’t find me, just sorta bombed the whole fucking street. What now?”  
  
“Now we wait.”  
  
  


\---

  
  
He waited, and as he waited, he watched. The fighting outside the little nook he had taken up in the alley was starting in earnest. Another three of the heroes had arrived and were taking on the Siberian, Burnscar, and Shatterbird. He suspected the other team wouldn’t make it in time, Crawler and Leet were hard to put down quickly, but also couldn’t just be ignored.  
  
The girl in green, Vista, was fighting the Siberian with a surprising amount of viciousness. It almost made him want to reconsider their plans and try to recruit her. Every move the Siberian made was countered by the terrain warping around her and the girl worked with the boy in white, Clockblocker, to set up panels that were steadily walling the Siberian in. The Siberian, for her part, was clearly becoming a bit frustrated with her prey giving her the runabout so readily. She had tried huge leaps, only to have them turned into short leaps. She had naturally tried hitting the barriers only to have to reform, something that had only rallied the heroes further.  
  
He mused to himself. When was the last time the Siberian had such trouble against non-fliers? Years, at least. He couldn’t think of the last time with any ease. Maybe one of the Tinker traps that had been designed for her. But such constant runabout was really quite rare. It couldn’t last, even if she were trapped she could just hit the frozen objects and reform outside them. On the other hand, the field was getting littered with a labyrinth of time stopped discs and panels, making it difficult for her to do anything meaningful. A stalemate, essentially.  
  
As for the rest...Shatterbird and Burnscar were both incredibly mobile, doing hit and runs on the heroes. Kid Win had taken to chasing Burnscar, Shatterbird to chasing Kid Win given his obvious weakness to her, and Miss Militia to suppressing Shatterbird. Prism was hounding them both as she could, though she was a bit slow and lacked the mobility to truly catch either all that well. If Shatterbird took down Kid Win, it would lead to an edge for them. He watched Kid Win zip around, seemingly fabricating devices in real time. Jack had quickly noticed he looked to be limited to devices he already had made, nothing new was popping up on the field after the first couple of minutes.  
  
Still, a quick fabrication Tinker. The Protectorate must’ve been filled with glee at the potential applications of that. And the boy wore red and gold, a clear homage to Hero. Jack narrowed his eyes a bit. He would be perfect for the plan.  
  
Jack stepped out, carefully, making sure he was behind most of them. With such a chaotic battlefield he was naturally a little at risk but experience and intuition told him where to go. His footsteps sure as he got into position behind a green sedan. A good memory sprang to mind of the last time the Nine had a car trip across America. It was a classic experience after all.  
  
He waited for the shot, butterfly knife flipping idly in his hand. Kid Win swooped low, opening up a barrage of rifle fire on Burnscar, his two pistols had slotted together to form a rifle of sorts. Jack flicked the blade back and forth rapidly, sending out a flurry of horizontal cuts. Kid Win tumbled off his board a moment later as the cuts went into the back of his legs. He rolled onto the ground with a yelp, Prism shifting from her assault on Burnscar to cover him.  
  
Knox appeared next to the Hero wannabe, carrying a sledgehammer and a railroad spike. Right, he had told Knox to help. Her power was useful, if a bit inconvenient at times when the entire team forgot what she was doing. She slammed the spike through his leg, Prism only turning in time to see her raise the hammer and smash the spike down into the asphalt. Jack flicked his blade again, a cut shooting out and blinding Prism as it cut into her eyes. She immediately collapsed back into one and split again, ridding herself of the injury. Knox had disappeared again. Or was possibly still there, but just being herself.  
  
There were shouts from the heroes. He always loved those, the melody of when hope turned into worry or panic. Prism was hard pressed to keep Burnscar off the downed Kid Win, Burnscar spreading her fires closer with time. It wouldn’t do for them to kill him, but Burnscar was always a pain to control when she was this far gone. Miss Militia had kept Shatterbird fairly occupied, the sniper fire was deadly if it connected and Shatterbird couldn’t afford to leave the heroine alone too long.  
  
In a flash, Vista and Clockblocker were over by Prism. Vista was swinging a crowbar that seemed to blend in with her costume into thin air. Halfway through the swing arc it extended out a dozen feet and with a crunch he heard Burnscar’s knees go out. Lot of knees going down today he mused with a bit of a chuckle. Burnscar crumpled, teleporting somewhere else as she rolled onto the ground. From the swing he figured Vista hadn’t just stretched the weapon, she must’ve been able to shift the density of it. Perhaps shifted all the weight into the end. It had swung in the second half like it was extremely top heavy, relying more on momentum than muscle. Clever, and it would’ve hit hard enough to maul Burnscar even with her enhancements.  
  
Shatterbird broke off from harassing Miss Militia to rain glass down on the collected heroes. Clockblocker shot a panel out, it quickly unfolded and he froze it above them, the glass shattering on it before whipping around to the sides. A staccato of red bolts burst into the air, screaming through it, and impacted Shatterbird, sending her reeling back and on the defensive. Huh, Kid Win was not just conscious but had his gun still. He had a bit more respect for the Ward now. Good on him for not dying and letting his plan continue. He had propped himself up on a drone of some sort, a bit of blood marred his star-shaped mask. The heroes were hunched down, relatively unscathed from the attack. The uniforms the Wards used were certainly durable given the fight so far. It had only been a sneak attack to a joint that had done any sort of serious damage to any of them.  
  
Prism tried to pull at the spike that held Kid Win down, but it wouldn’t budge. The heroes were too far for him to hear, sadly, but he hoped they would do what he expected. Call Panacea. With one of the Wards severely injured and unable to be moved, they’d need the healer out here. Jack knew, he had aimed to cut just enough to make the blood loss a real threat, but not an instantly fatal one. They’d need a Brute to remove the spike as well, which made it perfect. Glory Girl would be able to get Panacea out, remove the spike, and then the plan would be almost finished.  
  
He watched as the Siberian crashed out of a building behind the collected heroes, punishing them for the folly of ignoring her for too long. Her frustration must’ve peaked since she didn’t toy at all and just rushed for Vista. One of Prism’s copies tried to intercept, but was destroyed as the Siberian ignored her. Vista warped the space around them, but it didn’t seem as effective as before. The Siberian swung with her claws wide and open, scoring the young Ward across the side of her face.  
  
Clockblocker dove for the Siberian, hand extended as he collided and she suddenly disappeared. He whistled quietly. Fast reactions on that kid. He honestly hadn’t been sure who would win that one. A crack rang out and Shatterbird stumbled on her platform. Another shot and she nearly fell, glass shattering around her. She turned around, disappearing into a set of alleyways. The Siberian didn’t re-appear. Probably helping Burnscar get to Bonesaw if he had to guess. Siberian wasn’t as fond of Burnscar as she was of Bonesaw, but she was still one of her preferred members of the Nine.  
  
The heroes stood in a cluster, Clockblocker had frozen both Kid Win and Vista and it was he and Prism who were keeping watch. Jack waited those long minutes patiently. No good to be seen now and have them all move and hunt him down. No, then the plan would be riskier to try a second time and he’d be set back an entire day. They could always adapt, but it was best if things went off without a hitch the first time.  
  
The Siberian appeared beside him during his wait and he held up a single finger, “Wait. Bonesaw’s gift is almost here.”  
  
The reminder that this was for Bonesaw was all it took to get her off the toes of her feet and settled to wait. She still acted like an indulgent mother even after all the recent changes.  
  
Minutes passed and a streak of gold and white approached. The robed healer was carried by her sister as they touched down. There was a bit of a fuss. Ah, he saw. They had to wait for the victims to unfreeze before she could heal them. Did he want to wait? Losing a hero or two was always a given when the Nine went to town, but he liked to cultivate some. Give them a reason to challenge him. Kid Win had surprised him with the tenacity to keep up supporting fire and he couldn’t help but have a bit of nostalgia for Hero. Oh, fine, he could indulge himself a little.  
  
The freeze wore off shortly enough anyway and Glory Girl ripped the spike out, earning her a glare and some sort of reprimand from Panacea. A bit of laying on hands, how very holy of her, and Kid Win seemed to be out of danger. Vista was still frozen though. He frowned, he didn’t really want to wait any further. He waggled his finger to the Siberian and nodded. She took the gesture as it was meant and started to circle around.  
  
Not twenty seconds later she burst into view, dashing for the healer. Glory Girl, to her credit, scooped Panacea up and started upwards but was pulled down by the Siberian, who had leapt to intercept them. A moment later the Siberian revoked her protection as Glory Girl and Panacea hit the ground. Clockblocker tried to jump for her but she sidestepped him, having an easier time without Vista’s interference. The Siberian grabbed Panacea, not injuring her but lifting her up in a hold. Glory Girl screamed something in a mixture of raw fury and panic, throwing a punch at the Siberian. Panacea screamed and the Siberian leapt high, gravity no longer hindering her for a moment, until her arc took her to a rooftop. She disappeared from sight as she absconded with Panacea.  
  
Glory Girl sat in a mess, her hand gone down to the wrist in a bloody stump. Clockblocker quickly tagged her as well. The heroes started doing something, but he wasn’t interested anymore. His role in this particular act was done and he strolled off, wondering if Knox was still around or not.  
  
  


\---

  
  
Jack was supposed to be keeping an eye out for flyers over Bonesaw’s latest hideout. Instead he stood under a bridge, the dirty river rippling down towards the ocean. He pressed the send key on the little disposable flip-phone, waited a moment to make sure it sent, and then tossed it in the river.  
  
It had been decided for him. He had seen what Bonesaw was doing with Ichor and that had been that. Mannequin must’ve seen it earlier, more intuitively understood exactly what she was doing. He had been smart to flee, though Jack was a bit miffed he hadn’t thought to leave him a note or something. Maybe negging Alan for over a decade had built up some animosity. He supposed he’d never know now, it was hard enough to find the Tinker when he wanted to be found. First him, now Knox, he really needed to get the Nine some radios or something.  
  
The Nine were his, but he realized now that these Nine weren’t. Bonesaw had most of them in some way or another. Siberian wouldn’t leave her. Shatterbird, Cherish, and Burnscar were heavily modified and he suspected a bit under some of her mind control by how nice Shatterbird was being. Crawler simply wouldn’t back down if he was still having fun. Leet and Hard Knox were new, they had no particular loyalty. He might be able to convince them to come if he could ever find Knox and Leet wasn’t really worth it. He had been a stop-gap and useful at the time, bitter at the world for turning him into a laughing stock and devoid of his only friend and partner. He'd self destruct regardless of what Jack did.  
  
So there Jack was, with his trusty knives, a fresh face courtesy of Bonesaw, his stick and attached sack of goods at the end, and a little boat. It was iconic he thought, a perfect way for a new beginning. He figured he’d make his way upriver for a bit. Maybe explore Quebec a little. The Nine were his after all. He could always rebuild them as he saw fit. Without people who just disappeared like Mannequin or went too far for him to handle like Bonesaw or were annoyingly equal parts useful and useless like Leet.  
  
Maybe he’d avoid Tinkers next time around.  
  
But first, he decided to take a vacation. He hadn’t had one in years.  
  
He wondered what Boston was like this time of year.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Broadcast to Jack during this entire arc: "LEAVE, JUST GO. PLEASE. SOMEWHERE FAR FAR AWAY"


	20. Chapter 13: Crazy For You

### Chapter 13: Crazy For You

  
  
My mind felt foggy and dark, like I was deep underwater. A single thought coursed through my mind. _ I have to get up. I have to escape._ I pushed for the surface, swimming through the heaviness and forcing my way up. I felt myself reaching the cusp of something, something important.  
  
A voice intruded into my struggle, “Already? Oh no you don’t!”  
  
Something pricked me, an almost whole body sensation despite being a prick. I felt myself sinking back down. I couldn’t get up, everything got heavier and I wasn’t strong enough. I fell into the black.  
  
A moment later I jerked awake and found I couldn’t move. I tried to open my eyes and they struggled to open, like they had been crusted over after a long sleep. The feeling of being constrained ate into me and I felt my anxiety push up to the top of my brain. My arms and legs jerked, trying to bodily rip apart whatever was keeping me down.  
  
I hated being trapped. I wouldn’t let it happen. I pushed out and tried to destroy whatever surrounded me. I couldn’t push my blood out. Had I lost my suit? Speaking of, where was I even? I tried to dig through my recent memories, figured out what had happened.  
  
A voice stirred me out of my reverie, “For fuck’s sake, you’re awake again? Bonesaw, she’s up again!”  
  
Bonesaw. BONESAW. Fuck, right. I had been fighting the Nine. Okay, this was bad. I needed to escape now, my cover was already blown. I heaved with my entire body and wrenched my leg, feeling something holding me break with a metallic crack.  
  
The voice came again, “Hey, stay still!”  
  
A wave of inertia washed over me. I wanted to move, but moving was just so hard. Doing anything was hard. I couldn’t find the energy to do anything, it just wasn’t there. A corner of my mind raged at the idea. Before it could make its case I felt a pinprick and felt my mind close in around me.  
  
I woke and the inertia was gone. I stayed still, tentatively feeling the edges of my mind. Everything felt normal for the moment, so I pushed my arms and legs out gently. They were held tight in place and I resisted the urge to curse. Did that mean I was still stuck with the Nine? Who had messed with my head just before I fell asleep?  
  
That wave of inertia had been depressingly familiar of how I had felt before I had gotten my powers, before I had come into being a cape. Being unable to do anything to make a meaningful change. I didn’t like that someone had been able to pull me back to that mindset. I had made so much progress and I refused to let it go.  
  
_Must be a Master then. Cherish? None of the others have Master powers. Could be that Stranger too, since we don’t know what their full range of powers might be. Okay, so at least Bonesaw and either Cherish or the Stranger are present. That’s bad, but not unbeatable. I can’t afford to get caught by the Master again, but I don’t know what their range is or what limitations they have. I still don’t know how Bonesaw caught me either. Fuck._  
  
  
_I feel...whole? I don’t think they’ve done anything to me yet. Maybe they haven’t had the chance. I don’t know how long I was out, but it didn’t feel long. First things first, I need to get my bearings._  
  
I tentatively opened an eye, keeping it half lidded as I did in case I needed to pretend I was asleep still. An unfamiliar ceiling stretched out before me, an entire quarter of my vision was blotted out by an overwhelming bright light. The ceiling looked worn, old tiles from some sort of office building if I had to guess. The light kept me from trying to open my eyes entirely, even though no one seemed to have noticed me. It was painful to try and look around.  
  
I endured, straining my eyes to the sides to try and get a better idea of where I was. I couldn’t see above roughly chest height to either side of my head and it looked like I was in some sort of meeting room. There was a table pushed to one side with some chairs and a full length wall of windows to the other, blinds shutting out the external world.  
  
_Windows. I can use that. If I can get out the window I’ll be able to draw attention and get back-up. I just need to escape my restraints._  
  
I strained against them and nothing happened. I felt weak, my struggles barely shifting the restraints in any way. What had happened to my strength? I tried to push on my blood and nothing happened. I felt panic rising and crushed it under my mental heel, trying my powers again. Nothing.  
  
_Bonesaw took away my powers. Shit. Shit shit shit. Alright, I did things before I got my powers before. I can do things still, I just have to be smart._  
  
Had I done things without my powers before? The thought occurred to me. What exactly had I done before I got my powers? I hadn’t been able to resist the Trio. I hadn’t gotten myself out of the locker. I hadn’t saved my failing relationship with my Dad. I hadn’t accomplished anything without my powers.  
  
Were my powers just a crutch? Was I really so weak that I was helpless once I lost them?  
  
The thought rolled over me like a tidal wave. Hell, when was the last time I had read a book? I spent all my time with the Wards the last few months. I trained with my powers day in and out, did extra patrols once Brockton Bay was condemned. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been Taylor and not Ichor. I was Taylor with the Wards, but it was always the part of Taylor that came with Ichor. It wasn’t the Taylor from before Ichor.  
  
Where had she gone?  
  
I hadn’t picked up a book lately; I hadn’t even really looked forward to going back to school, it had been shoved to the back of my mind. I hadn’t even bought anything for myself with the allowance I got from the Wards. It dawned on me that Taylor wasn’t really around anymore. I was Ichor all day, every day. Taylor had essentially died with Dad, disappearing as a different girl with her looks and powers took over. She had been replaced by someone who was patiently waiting to take over the PRT and Protectorate. It was a goal the old Taylor never would’ve imagined. She hadn’t even had plans that grand against the Trio and Blackwell, just riding out their abuses in passivity.  
  
Who was I now? I was Ichor, but who was Ichor? Panic and anxiety started to fill me. I didn’t know what was me anymore. I didn’t know what was important, what mattered, what made me to be me. I knew my friends were important, I knew my goals were important. I was motivated by past sins against me. Against Taylor really, if I was being fair. The girl from then and who I was now were just so different.  
  
A sound caught my attention and two shapes walked into my sight-line. One was a a short girl with long dark hair, a dyed red streak running through her bangs. She was thin and stood with a small smirk on her face. The other was easily recognizable. Blonde hair that had been parted into twin pigtails that bounced with curls. A dress that was stained red with blood and had streaks of other colors across it. Bonesaw.  
  
She leaned over with a smile, “Up and awake again? That’s alright, you’re allowed to be this time. Wouldn’t want you to miss the best part!”  
  
I tried to speak and found my mouth wouldn’t open. I frowned, feeling something stuck to my lips.  
  
Bonesaw perked up, “Oh right! I forgot I stitched your mouth up. You were waking up so much and yelling. We had to move three times just because of you.”  
  
She pulled out a pair of surgical scissors and cut along my lips and I felt the tension I hadn't been aware of release.  
  
“Lucky for you, I’m not mad, because you’ll be the perfect patient. After all, I couldn’t get mad at my half-sister, could I?”  
  
I sputtered as I felt my lips work again, thread chaffing against them and through them, “H-h-half sister?”  
  
She nodded her head energetically, “Yeah! I mean, it was your dad’s tech that we both use. But I have the Nine and you have the Wards, so we aren’t full sisters, only halfsies! That’s okay though, I love Siberian and she isn’t even my sister. I’m sure we’ll get along great.”  
  
I coughed, my throat dry and lips feeling unwieldy and awkward, “I don’t think so.”  
  
She tilted her head to the side, “Really? That’d be a shame. I think you’ll change your mind though! And even if you don’t, I’ll still get an older sister. Jack always said to never put all your eggs in one basket.”  
  
I croaked out, “Older sister?”  
  
A grin a mile wide broke her face, something about it fundamentally wrong. “Uh-uh-uh! That’d be telling! Jack also said never to reveal your plans to heroes before they’re done ‘cause that’s how Crimson died. Not that you can escape, but still. Jack’s never wrong.”  
  
I wilted inside. Any chance at escape disappeared now that Bonesaw was here and she wasn’t going to give me a clue about what was going to happen. I couldn’t see a way out of this. My only hope was that my teammates would find me, but I knew they’d have their hands full with the rest of the Nine at the same time.  
  
Bonesaw turned to the girl beside her, “Cherish, go watch Panacea while I work?”  
  
The girl, Cherish I now knew, shrugged and walked off out of my sight. Panacea. So Bonesaw had captured her as well at some point? She was usually behind everyone else, one of the most protected. I couldn’t imagine how she had found a hole in which to grab her, but the news wasn’t helping my spirits. If Panacea was here it meant I needed to break out even sooner, and I had to get her out of here as well.  
  
I tried to look around, but nothing new stuck out to me. I could barely move my fingers and my powers still wouldn’t respond. My costume was silent, if I still even had it on. I didn’t assume that Bonesaw had just left me with my most powerful weapon after all. I couldn’t really bend my head down to get a good look either, but the mental presence of Junketsu was nowhere to be found in the background of my thoughts. That didn’t bode well, but I doubt I could’ve used it anyway at the moment.  
  
I heard the rasp of metal on metal and Bonesaw leaned over me, tools in her hands.  
  
“You know, not many people can appreciate what I’m doing to you, but you can! It’s why I let you wake up. You understand! So I’ll tell you what I’m doing as I do it. You can’t ruin it that way. You made those suits for your team and they’re super cool.”  
  
I felt the blade press into my scalp with a bite of pain and I suppressed it. The blade drew down my forehead and I felt my blood trickle down my face without my control. It felt strange to bleed without being able to control it, like I had lost control of a limb.  
  
“But they’re only half as cool as they could be. You’re so limited when just wearing Life Fibers. It limits them too, so they can’t mess with you too much, but why not see how far it can go?”  
  
The blade shifted and moved through my hair. It was silly to care about my hair right now, but it still sent a moment of worry through me. It was a silly thought, I had much bigger problems. I had to try and get out of these restraints. My fingers searched their range of motion slowly, carefully.  
  
“And you! You’re perfect. You managed to take a pure Life Fiber outfit and control it. I don’t even think Shatterbird could do that. So who else would be perfect to test this out on? Sure, sure, I already tried it on myself, but that’s different. I have a lot of mods that prevent anything from messing with my brain.”  
  
I felt the scalpel push deeper, but the pain disappeared and was replaced just with uncomfortable pressure. Uncomfortable pressure and the disturbing crackle of what sounded like bone being cut. How was she even doing that with a scalpel? My fingers found something, a bump in the restraints on my left hand. I tried to pull at it.  
  
“My power doesn’t really interact with the fibers. Not fundamentally anyway. Yet. But yours totally does! So I really just had to see how that would work out. See, powers are weird. They come from the Corona Pollentia and Gemma, but they are waaaay too small to do everything that they need to. And Life Fibers seem way too simple and small to provide the power that they do. You and me, together, can solve this!”  
  
The bump didn’t seem to be a latch so I tried clawing at it, finding some sort of irregularity I could start at to work down and tear. It didn’t seem to be working, but it was my best shot so far. I had to keep at it. Bonesaw was on the edge of my view, messing around with my head in ways that didn’t bear thinking.  
  
“I have this theory that maybe powers and Life Fibers work off similar mechanics. They’re both bits of biology that totally defy everything else. The effect is really hard to isolate too, maybe too small to see easily. So I figure if I combine them together and generate a really large effect in you, I might be able to see how it works finally!”  
  
I had a vague sense of unease. Something was pushing around in my head and it felt like an odd pressure. The beginnings of a headache perhaps where it didn’t hurt but I knew it was coming. I dug my fingernails into the bump over and over, feeling them start to hurt as it didn’t give.  
  
“And if it works with you, I can do it to Panacea too! With her powers...oh boy, it could be...I can’t even wait! Though if this doesn’t work I’ll wait. I need at least one of my sisters to survive or this whole trip will have been a bust.”  
  
The bump wouldn’t give, no matter how much I dug my nails into it. I could tell I was damaging them, but I had no other choice. Whatever Bonesaw was doing made me want to vomit. I could feel cold metal instruments and warm hands moving things.  
  
“The neck bone’s connected to the...neck bone! The neck bone’s connected to the...neck bone! The neck bone’s connected to the...neck bone! The neck bone’s connected to the...neck bone! The neck bone’s connected to the...neck bone! The neck bone’s connected to the...neck bone! There are seveeeeeen cervical vertebrae~”  
  
A sharp pain in my scalp for a moment, something threaded through from the feeling. I just had to escape, but I didn’t have anything. I was just running in circles. But what else could I do? The longer Bonesaw was inside me, the more fucked up whatever she was doing would be. I tried to thrash against the restraints, shaking the table slightly.  
  
“Hey now! Good patients don’t move during surgery. If you do, you won’t get any candy when it’s done. Now this next bit is gonna hurt a lot, so you miiiight pass out. But I do need to totally rewrite every somatic cell in your body if we’re going to make this work. Viral vectors are excellent for that, but they do have a tendency to cause a cytokine cascade which would really suck, since it’d kill you. So I’m just gonna suppress your immune system wholesale and rebuild it from the ground up afterwards so that it doesn’t get upset at all the additions I’m making! …’Course that means I have to replace all your bone marrow and blood and tweak your thymus so yeah, it’s gonna hurt a tad since I figured I’d just do it all at once. Saves time!  
  
Huh? I spy with my little eye something strange…”  
  
There was a pinch in my arm and I tasted copper in my mouth for some reason. My veins started to burn, tortuous pathways in my arms on fire as whatever it was spread. I felt my mind fall towards the edge of unconsciousness and did nothing to stop it.  
  
  


\---

  
  
I found myself floating in an empty space. It was surprisingly relaxing. I had some vague awareness of my body, but it was detached, like I was an observer rather than an occupant. I felt I could’ve pulled myself back in if I wanted, but I’d also be pulled back into the fray if I did. There wouldn’t be a time to relax and I wouldn’t get to return here anytime soon.  
  
I didn’t reach, instead just sitting back and relaxing. I hadn’t gotten to relax in a long time. My thoughts circled back to my earlier ones. When was the last time I had relaxed? I relaxed around my friends sometimes. Movie night with them was always fun. Anime with Missy at 3 a.m. or learning how to play video games with Dennis. Helping Carlos cook dinner or even just keeping Chris company when he tinkered. They were all relaxing. But when was the last time I relaxed by myself?  
  
I liked being with my friends, but I was realizing that I hadn’t kept any of my own hobbies. Sure, books weren’t a great group activity and I hadn’t shared with any friends in years so I was a bit out of practice, but what did that mean for me? Did that make me someone without personality, just part of everyone else’s life except my own? I could count training as a hobby maybe, I spent enough time on it that it kinda counted. And being a workaholic was a thing other people did too, it wasn’t just me.  
  
Dad had done that.  
  
Dad, who had drifted away from me. Who hadn’t been there for me when I needed him. Who just watched silently as I had slipped further and further into depression. Shit. Was I becoming my dad? He had let himself get swallowed up by his responsibilities for the Dockworker’s Union, had let it become his life and define him and in the end it had driven us apart. It had left us alone together in a falling apart house with no future. Was I following his footsteps in the same doomed pathway?  
  
I helped people. It was tangible. I saved them from fires, from starvation, from flood waters, from villains. And yet had I changed anything in the big picture yet? The answer was no. My dad had helped people too, every day he tried at least. And yet he hadn’t been able to reverse the downward course of the city’s economics. The big picture was the same.  
  
Why were the Nine allowed to roam free for example? The Protectorate had hundreds upon hundreds of capes. Even most villains hated the Nine. Surely a targeted manhunt could’ve brought them down. Maybe not Siberian, but the rest of the Nine were mortal in some way and she wasn’t exactly known for her charisma. Hell, if the Nine had been taken down by the Protectorate earlier then dad would still be alive.  
  
Thousands would still be alive.  
  
What was the big picture for the Protectorate? They didn’t seem dedicated to rooting out large villain organizations, like the Teeth, the Fallen, or the Elite. They didn’t do much against Endbringers, they’re best strategy boiled down to wait and hope Scion shows up. They didn’t actively eliminate the other S-Class threats like the Nine. It was almost like they were just holding the line, letting civilization slowly fall into the sea. Merely acting to slow that fall and maintain order while it happened rather than stop it.  
  
I knew the Protectorate was often outnumbered, but was that really the best they could do? Strategy wise it was like they had given up on trying to win and instead were just trying to delay the inevitable. Sure, no one had found out how to kill an Endbringer yet, but had the highest powers already determined that it wasn’t going to happen? It felt like there was something I was missing. A puzzle piece that I didn’t know the shape of, but needed.  
  
Why restrain yourself to holding actions? The Protectorate, even outnumbered, was still hundreds of capes strong and had a united front. It was conceivable they could crush any opposition if they truly pooled their resources together. So why hadn’t that happened? Oh sure, Tattletale once mentioned the unwritten rules and how villains helped with Endbringers, but that didn’t make sense. If the Protectorate stamped out large villain groups then capes wouldn’t get poached as much and the Protectorate would get a larger portion of them. Capes who knew how to fight together, who had better training, who were unified. A far more effective group then a bunch of villains who couldn’t trust each other.  
  
It didn’t sit right. It was like every action the Protectorate did was for short term benefit at long term loss. Every action was a holding action against some inevitable loss. If the struggle really was that hopeless…  
  
No, it couldn’t be. I refused to accept that we had already lost and were just playing for time. If we looked at the situation that way then we had lost whether or not it was possible to win. The only way forward was to reach for victory and assume it existed because failure to do so meant accepting defeat.  
  
My entry into the Protectorate was still two years away. Even if I got promoted ridiculously fast, the soonest I’d be at a high level position would be four, maybe five years at best. Too long. I’d end up doing the same thing the Protectorate was doing, just holding action after holding action, biding my time while literal millions died. If I was going to be different, if I was going to change things then I needed to do it now. Not later.  
  
I reached out for my body, pushing myself back from the detached space I had been in. I couldn’t give up now. My senses snapped back into place, my body flooding back into my awareness with pain and tingling. I felt every fiber of my being cry out in pain as I tried to move, like I had been taken apart and put back together.  
  
Bonesaw preened, “Oh it’s perfect! It’s the perfect shade of red, like roses!”  
  
I felt my strength had come back to me. Not just come back, I felt strong. Really strong. Strong like when I had fought Leviathan, but without the crushing fatigue and injury. Everything hurt, but it was also so fresh at the same time. Like I had a massage that went too deep, all my muscles felt renewed and strong, if not a bit sore.  
  
I looked wrenched my arm and tore the restraint off the table. Snapping my eyes open with the sound of tearing fabric and a flash of pain. Blurry red fibers dangled too close to my eyes. _ She sewed my eyes shut. How did I open them then? What did she do?_  
  
Bonesaw looked at me, a mixture of concern and excitement on her face. “Now now, I need you to stay still. We still haven’t tested how the Kamui will work with you yet!”  
  
I growled, “Not a chance Bonesaw.”  
  
She spoke with that smile still plastered on her face, “I’ll just have to make you then.”  
  
She moved fast. Ridiculously so, though I had the odd sensation that I could almost keep up to her if I tried. I only had one arm free though, and I desperately needed to get completely free first. Bonesaw came to the table and I heaved at the same instant, pulling the table sideways and flipping it over. The moment it bought me I snapped my other restraints. I looked down, noticing the snapped bands glowed a dim red. Life fibers.  
  
Bonesaw was suddenly standing next to me, oddly two dimensional for a second.  
  
“I know you want to help me Ichor! Think of all the things you could do if you let me keep working on you. I bet you already feel a lot better, right?”  
  
I whipped my fist around for a wide haymaker. Not exactly the most tactical, but it was driven as much by instinct as by conscious thought. Bonesaw evaded effortlessly, a long blade in her hand. It looked like half of a pair of giant scissors, unwieldy and also unfortunately sharp. A flick of her wrist and I felt it cut into my chest, sending me leaping back with a hand clutched to the wound.  
  
Blood seeped from the wound and I realized my power was also mine again. A torrent of blood flew from the wound at Bonesaw and I darted to the side. I couldn’t let her catch me. Whatever she was now, she was fast. She was strong, too. I needed my Kamui. Speaking of…  
  
I looked down. I was naked. _I don’t even have the energy right now to care. Fuck it._  
  
I swirled my blood cloak around me as Bonesaw appeared next to me again. _How is she doing that? _ The blade flicked effortlessly for me and I had to twist to avoid, bending my spine at an awkward angle. She merely flicked the blade again and I fell into a roll to dodge. Out of the corner of my eye I watched as she simply strolled forward towards me.  
  
I needed to do something and fast. This was Bonesaw, she wasn’t supposed to be a Mover or a Brute. Or whatever that strange shifting thing she was doing was. _She’s a Tinker! An augmented Tinker, but still, she shouldn’t be able to beat me in a fight this easily! I’ve got to warn everybody, she’s a much bigger threat than we thought…_  
  
The blade shot forth and nearly pinned me by my head into the nearby wall. I scrambled to my feet, spreading my blood around to obscure my position, dashing for where I thought the windows were. I burst out of the swirling cloud of blood only to see her standing in front of me.  
  
Smiling.  
  
I threw all my blood forward, if I couldn’t get past her I could still signal the Protectorate where I was. The blood crashed towards her and she dodged, appearing right beside me as the blood crashed against the window. I weaved out of the incoming blow. The glass didn’t break? I looked in shock for a moment.  
  
Bonesaw didn’t follow up on my moment of distraction. She just stood there. It was then I spotted Shatterbird leaning against the doorway. Burnscar flanked her, both of them watching me. _Shatterbird must have held the window. Three of the Nine and I’m unarmed. Not good. They’re expecting me to try to escape, I need to surprise them._  
  
I grabbed the broken leg of the table and held it like a bat. If they expected me to escape, I just had to pretend I was and then rush them. If I could take them by surprise I could probably take one down for a little. It might give me an opening to get out or to snowball into taking down a second…  
  
We were at a tense standoff for a few seconds. Me, cloaked in blood and clinging a table leg as my only weapon. Them, standing there patiently, waiting for me to make a move.  
  
Then the room exploded in light, fire, and noise.  
  
Leap was there, grabbing my hand and shouting, “**Comeoncomeoncomeon**!”  
  
Behind him was a tall woman, elegant in composure. She was long in limb and covered in samurai-esque armor, sharpened at the myriad of edges. In her hands was revving a massive minigun, her back to us as she ripped into Shatterbird. _The Butcher._  
  
Leap pulled me close and we popped. He dropped to the floor, drenched in sweat and looking anxious. I steadied my legs as the shift in location disoriented me. I was suddenly in a room that looked like a corporate office. There was a number of masked figures around. Another tall woman, covered in royal style embroidery and augmented with some minor armor. A man in an incredibly well cut suit who look overall displeased to be here. A few capes dressed in motley assortments of armor, ears, fingers, and other bits hanging off them like trophies. One was in dark reddish-brown armor and staring at me intently. And then there was Tattletale in her purple bodysuit, giving me a shit-eating grin and waving.  
  
“Welcome back Ichor! Someone wanna get her a coat? We don’t need the cops busting us for underage shit, she’s a Ward you know.”  
  
A few of the capes recoiled at the statement and one immediately offered me a large coat. I took it through my blood cloak, the two in combination covering me well enough.  
  
Leap panted, “I swear...you two are gonna get me killed….that was the second most terrifying jump of my life…”  
  
The female cape who seemed to be leading her contingent spoke, “What was worse than jumping the Butcher into the Nine?”  
  
Leap looked up, a flat stare, “Grabbing this chick from the middle of an underground sea while Leviathan was ten feet away.”  
  
He rolled onto his back and went silent, taking deep breaths. There was a pause in the room.  
  
The woman nodded, “Alright then. Ichor, right? Can you tell us anything you’ve learned from the Nine?”  
  
I held my hands up in a stop motion, “Hold up, someone’s gonna have to explain what just happened. Who are all of you?”  
  
Tattletale spun in her seat and raised her hand, “I’ll handle that.”  
  
Everyone in the room seemed to nod or agree with it. There was an odd amount of deference being paid to her. I supposed I’d find out shortly.  
  
She started, “So, naturally when the Nine crashed a press conference in NYC, everybody heard about it pretty quickly. I wanted to get ahold of you if I could, but it wasn’t exactly easy. Then, out of the blue, Accord here-” She gestured to the man in the immaculate suit, “-got a lead detailing the location of Bonesaw’s lab and that she had you and Panacea captured. I managed to talk Accord into bringing that to the boys and girls of New York…” She gestured to the rest of the room.  
  
“I am Agnes Court. I’ve come personally to oversee the destruction of the Nine. When we heard about the information leak and had it confirmed by both Accord and Tattletale, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to deal the Nine a crippling blow.”  
  
“Hemorrhagia. Fuck the Nine. They fucked with us once and we’re going to fuck them right back. That’s why the Butcher is in there, tearing them to shreds right now.”  
  
“And as Tattletale already mentioned, I am Accord. The Nine offend my sensibilities.”  
  
Tattletale grinned cheekily, “So we tracked down Leap, convinced-”  
  
“-Coerced.” Leap interrupted.  
  
“-him into helping by throwing the Butcher in there and grabbing you. Wasn’t easy, but we got enough data for his teleport to work and bam! You’re here. Now the next phase of the plan needs to go soon, so spill if you learned anything.”  
  
I was surrounded by villains. Not just any villains, but several of the biggest villains on East Coast of the entire country. Agnes Court was even more famous, she was one of the leaders of the Elite, which covered both coasts to some degree. And they had also just pulled me out of a very, very bad situation.  
  
I nodded slowly, “Thanks for saving me. Especially you Leap, I know it’s...stressful.”  
  
Leap gave a thumbs up from the floor where he still laid.  
  
Did I want to cooperate with not just known villains but infamous ones?_ Fuck it, they didn’t have to come and they did. If anyone is hurting the Nine right now, they're an ally. They even took a risk to save a hero they don’t even know based on Tattletale’s word._  
  
“Right. So I assume the Truce is still on and we all want the Nine dead. Am I correct?”  
  
Agnes Court spoke first, “Correct.”  
  
“Then here’s what I got. Most of the Nine have been enhanced using life fibers.” There were a few curious looks I stayed with a raised hand. “What this means is that they have Brute and Mover ratings on top of what they previously had. So Burnscar, Shatterbird, and probably the rest are all significantly tougher, they hit harder, they move faster. Bonesaw is...something else. She’s a monster now.”  
  
Accord tilted his head slightly, “Has she modified herself past recognition?”  
  
I shook my own, “No, she looks the same, but she’s changed. She’s as strong as I am. Maybe stronger. She moves as fast too. She seemed to almost turn two dimensional and just slide out of the way of things. She...messed with me. I don’t know how. But she was planning to do Panacea next. I don’t know if she got to her yet, but we need to get Panacea out of there.”  
  
Hemorragia interrupted my flow, “The Butcher will take care of that. She knows Panacea is in there and we ain’t gonna just fuck up a healer for no reason. Once the Nine are down, the Butcher will call it in and we’ll send the rest in. Vex, ‘n Spree, ‘n all them are right outside. They probably already went in when they heard the Butcher go ape.”  
  
Tattletale looked concerned, “If what Ichor is saying is true, the Butcher might not be enough. Brute 8, Mover 4 or so, and some sort of Changer or Stranger thing? Shit that’s ontop of her being a Tinker 8. We might need to get more people in there, and fast.”  
  
Hemorragia snarled, “The Teeth are more than enough to handle those fucked-up...fuckers!”  
  
Accord frowned and Hemorragia quieted down. “No. If Bonesaw has those changes, and more so if she has given them to the rest of the Nine, the Butcher will be overrun. Especially since she expects them to be weaker, they’ll have the element of surprise. We need to reinforce immediately. Jacklight, Ligeia. Go and provide support.”  
  
The man in a purple dress shirt and the woman in the azure dress nodded and promptly turned and left the room.  
  
Agnes Court seemed to follow his lead, speaking to the man to her left, “Call Blueblood, update him and then tell him to engage. If the Butcher goes down before we get in, all hope for a quick take-down is lost.”  
  
Hemorragia gave another snarl and sighed heavily. She stomped out of the room, signalling to the three she had with her. “C’mon. We’re gonna go beat the shit of the Nine.”  
  
Everyone was going off to fight the Nine and I was being left behind, forgotten. _ I can’t just stop. Panacea is still in there. I’m taking Bonesaw down. I have to. It has to be me. After what she did, Bonesaw was mine._ I felt that ember of cold fury burn in my chest, come back alive. It had disappeared in my confusion and panic, but I remembered it now. I took ahold of that feeling and held onto it tight.  
  
I looked to Tattletale and Accord, “Send me back. I can help. If I can find my gear there, I might even be able to take them down. You know I can do it.”  
  
Accord frowned slightly and Tattletale shrugged, “You sure? Most people don’t do so hot after Bonesaw...you know.”  
  
I clenched my fists. I hadn’t had a chance to see what she had done to me yet. The look Tattletale gave me though...It wasn’t something I could focus on at the moment. If I focused on it, I felt like I might not have the focus to handle everything that was happening right now. Whatever she did, I could handle it later.  
  
“Yeah. I’m sure.”  
  
Tattletale looked over to leap, “Leap, you up for one more trip today?”  
  
Leap looked up from the floor with disbelief, “Fuck no!”  
  
I glared at Leap and he wilted. “Alright, alright. Same place work? It’s easier for me, not sure I could do another blind jump.”  
  
I nodded, “Yeah, that works.” I turned my head and gave Tattletale a smile, “Thanks Tattletale.”  
  
She wasn’t the closest of my friends. She wasn’t even a friend really. We hadn’t spoken that much beyond business. But she had saved my life once and gotten me away from the Nine. I had the feeling she was behind so many villains going all in as well. She might not have been close to me, but she sure carried her weight. I could respect her, even if I was conflicted about the rest.  
  
She smirked, “Yeah, yeah, just get in there and turn them into blood sausage.”  
  
Leap looked unhappy, but I grabbed his hand and helped him to his feet. He took a deep breath and suddenly we were surrounded by the wrecked remains of the room he had stolen me away from. He disappeared a moment later and I was left to figure out what was going on.  
  
Around me were the smashed remains of some sort of room, presumably the one I had been held in. The walls were riddled with holes both large and small, the paint was burnt to a crisp and the far wall was still on fire. Nothing looked like it had survived the carnage intact and blood was splattered everywhere. There weren’t any bodies which I took to be a bad thing. It meant that the Butcher hadn’t managed to kill any of them in her surprise attack. The sounds of fighting were still around, hard to pin down. Gunshots rang through the air along with explosions and concussive blasts. The building shook not so gently every few seconds.  
  
_I have to find my stuff first and get Panacea before they destroy the entire building. _  
  
Easier thought than done. I looked around the room, not seeing a trace of my blade or Kamui. The fires that had scorched the room made it unlikely I’d find them if they were here anyway, the debris had piled up and sorting through it would take valuable minutes I didn’t have. I looked to the hallway and decided to search the surrounding rooms. I doubted Bonesaw would’ve kept my weapons in the same room anyway, it would’ve been monumentally stupid. Something I wished my opponents were more often.  
  
I moved on, searching the next room as quickly as I could. In the corner was a dismembered and battered corpse. Clearly beyond life, given the state of it. I peered closer, covering my mouth from the stench that emanated from it. Long hair, some sort of gruesome tattoo on what was left of her chest. The hair color was wrong for Burnscar, so Cherish perhaps? It seemed the Butcher had gotten at least one of them down. It definitely wasn’t the Butcher, which I was surprisingly happy about. _Odd that the day would come when I would be rooting for the Butcher._  
  
My outfit was still nowhere to be found. One room, two rooms. Nothing, just empty and gore splattered, with bullet holes spread across the walls. I moved through a smashed doorframe to see the side of the building had been blown out in this room. The sounds of battle wafted up from the street below, louder now that I was directly in view. The Butcher appeared to still be up and moving, but she was clearly flagging. She held the minigun with a sag, as if her arms were too tired to hold it up properly. Two capes flanked her, Spree spreading his clones out to keep a barrier around them and Hemorrhagia who was whipping her blood into a blade and shield. Burnscar was appearing sporadically out of the flames, dueling with Jacklight and Ligeia. Jacklight’s orange spheres surrounded the two and Ligeia threw water out to counter Burnscar’s blasts. Her water would weave close to an orb and suddenly accelerate with a shift in direction. The two worked together flawlessly, establishing a domain of control that pushed Burnscar back from the other villains.  
  
Shatterbird was fighting several other capes who were stationed on a nearby rooftop. The capes appeared to be pinned down, a prismatic shield keeping them safe, but apparently unable to escape Shatterbird’s assault. She kept careful distance and pelted them. If I had to guess, she had determined their maximum range and was just sitting safely outside it, whittling their defenses down. Given her power, they probably didn’t have long until she started getting through. Through all the chaos, I didn’t see Bonesaw and that made me more nervous than anything else. Presumably she had been the one to injure the Butcher so severely, I couldn’t see the other two managing it. Where were the Protectorate and PRT? This fight had clearly gone from only mildly loud to an outright slaughter in the streets. I knew that four of the Nine were accounted for here, so might the other five be fighting the Protectorate? I hadn’t seen Jack, Crawler, or Siberian since I was captured. Or their mysterious Stranger, though that hardly meant much since they could’ve stood right next to me and I wouldn’t know.  
  
I headed back inside. Despite wanting to help, I had to find my suit and Panacea first. There wasn’t much left to check on the floor so I pushed through the last few rooms. As I pushed open the door to the final room I heard a bone-chilling giggle I was coming to know all too well. Bonesaw was bent over Panacea, who looked panicked with tears running down her face. Panacea was dressed in some sort of white outfit with a short skirt, all trimmed with blue accents. It looked almost regal.  
  
_Can I take Bonesaw? She ran circles around me before. Can I afford not to take her right now?_  
  
I pushed off the ground, lunging for Bonesaw with the slim hope she hadn’t noticed me enter. She disappeared from in front of me and I felt something slam into the small of my back, sending me crashing down.  
  
“Tut-tut! Interrupting other people is rude, don’t you know? Lucky for me, I was just finishing up anyway!”  
  
I growled as I rolled over, “Fucking with other people’s bodies is also pretty rude.”  
  
Bonesaw frowned slightly, “Language! Besides, I love my big sis, she understands sometimes you have to hurt the ones you love a little bit in order to help them!”  
  
I squared off against her. She stood there, hands behind her back without a care as I hunched over, trying to extend my reach just a little by leaning forward.  
  
“I don’t think nonconsensual surgery counts as love.”  
  
She smiled even wider, “Love and hate are two sides of the same coin.”  
  
I frowned, confused. “I thought you loved her?”  
  
She held up a finger, “I do! But I also hate her. I hate how she wastes her powers. Panpan could do so much, but restricts herself to so little! It’s rude and stupid and wasteful! But we can fix that. Together. Isn’t that right Panpan?”  
  
Panacea whimpered as the hand came down to pat her lovingly. I made my move, lunging for Bonesaw again. Again she dodged, but this time I was ready for it, pushing blood to cover my blind spots with a blast. I felt the resistance in my blood as it hit off Bonesaw who had angled to be behind me again. I landed and spun to face her. As I did I spotted a gleam in the corner of the room. My blade sat propped in the entryway corner, just out of sight when I had walked in. _Damn, if I had seen that earlier this would be easier. I need to get that without Bonesaw seeing me go for it._  
  
I shifted my position, edging to line her up with the blade. If I could dash at her a third time and have her dodge it, I would land right next to the sword. If my blade was in here, my suit probably was as well. Getting at least one of the two would help immensely against Bonesaw at the moment regardless. I prepared my dash, trying to make it look as convincing as possible. Bonesaw dodged and I landed next to the blade. Turning to grab it I saw Bonesaw holding her pointer finger out, resting it daintily on the bottom of the hilt.  
  
“Nuh-uh~ I’ll give it back if you promise to be a good sister and stop trying to hit me.”  
_  
Fuck. I can’t catch her and if she has my weapon then this will only get harder. She’s clearly toying with me to boot. How am I supposed to get Panacea out of here if I can’t even get myself out? I need a plan beyond just trying to overpower her. I only have myself and my powers, everything else she can get to faster than I can. Okay, she has speed, but I’ve been slowly filling the room with blood. I can force her out._  
  
I pulled on the blood I had blasted at Bonesaw before and the cloak I wore protectively around myself. The blood started to spin out around me, slowly increasing in size and speed as I whipped it into a storm centered on myself. Bonesaw stepped back as it grew, staying just on the outer fringe of the storm. I had the issue of not hurting Panacea, but I altered the flow to form a small gap around her table as it spread out. I left no gaps in the expanding dome of blood, nothing for her to slip through in that weird way she dodged, except for the one around Panacea. I lost sight of Bonesaw as the raging tides of blood expanded and began to walk over to Panacea.  
  
She was, frankly, a mess. Her face was ragged from crying and bruised. She had the telltale signs of recent surgery, small thin lines across parts of her body where Bonesaw had done whatever it was she did. Her restraints were tight around her wrists and ankles. I looked down to her as I leaned over to try and tear them off.  
  
“I’m gonna get you out, okay? This might hurt a little.”  
  
I tore the restraint while I braced her arm and she screamed into the gag in her mouth. I winced a little. It might’ve hurt more than a little but I didn’t have time to find something to cut her out with. Every second Bonesaw was pushed back was a second I would need if we were to escape. I reached over to her other arm when a pain shot up my leg and I tumbled to the side. A black blade extended from the floor where it had driven up through my leg. I couldn’t move, my leg was pinned to the ground. The floor beside me exploded and Bonesaw popped out.  
  
She clicked her tongue, “I was putting up with you until you tried to take Panacea from me. I only need_ one_ of you anyway.”  
  
I tried to pull my leg up off the blade but the angle was bad and I felt it cut through me. Whatever she had done to me had given me regeneration, I found my leg slowly trying to pull itself back together even without my kamui. Bonesaw loomed over me, pulling a long purple blade resembling half a scissor from her blouse somehow. She didn’t look playful anymore and I knew I was in trouble. I collapsed my blood dome inwards, converging it all in on her in one gigantic spiral of destruction. My sight went red as there was nothing around me except for the tide of blood and I felt my leg break free as the floor beneath me crumbled under the force and broke. I was carried down with the vortex into the lower room, directing it all the while to pummel Bonesaw relentlessly. I grabbed the blade and slowly extracted it from my leg.  
  
My assault finished, I would have to gather the blood back up and swirl it again to get enough momentum to actually give Bonesaw pause. I got up, holding the blade in front of me defensively, my leg gingerly touching the floor as I tried to give it time to heal. The pain quickly fading as it knit back together. Bonesaw stepped out of the Bonesaw-shaped indentation in the wall on the opposite side of the room. She looked positively angry, the smile from before present but with a wicked glint in her eyes.  
  
She opened her mouth to speak when suddenly Vista dropped into the room. Her crowbar extended with her power to stretch across the room as she swung it heavily into Bonesaw’s head. Bonesaw stumbled to the side slightly and two copies of Prism surged out from above, tackling her. She thrashed, flinging them off her quickly, but recoiled as gunshots rang out. Heavy impacts pounded into her front as more gunshots rang out. She got ahold of herself, steadying her footing and doing that odd move where she seemed to slid between attacks, dodging Prism’s new copies and the shots that followed. A wall behind her dissolved into a blur as a figured in blue and silver charged through, swinging a halberd at her midsection. _Armsmaster is here?_ I barely had time to think as the heroes pushed her back, Prism keeping her occupied with her copies while Armsmaster threatened her with deadly blows. Miss Militia’s shots confining her when she tried to retaliate. Vista pulled what looked like a standard PRT issue containment foam grenade from her belt and chucked it, timed perfectly with Armsmaster’s leap back. Kid Win floated down, extending a hand to me and I took it, trusting the others to handle her for the moment.  
  
He started to talk, his speech rapid and anxious, “We were so worried! Everyone came as fast as we could when the fighting was spotted. Are you ok?”  
  
I held onto him as he lifted us up out of the melee, “I’ll be ok. We have to get Panacea out of here.”  
  
He nodded, “I think Adamant and Ursa are securing the room already.”  
  
As we returned to the room I had half destroyed I saw he was right. Adamant stood over Panacea, trying to undo the straps that held her while Ursa stood guard. The two looked at me with concern but I ignored it, walking over to Panacea and starting on the rest of her restraints. Kid Win came out, a tool folding out of his wrist that he used to begin cutting through the restraints. After a few moments Panacea was free and silently sobbing into Adamant’s chest, curled inward on herself.  
  
Kid Win looked to me for what to do and I tried to find the right words.  
  
Adamant spoke first, “It’s okay Panacea, we’ve got you. We’re going to get you to a hospital and you’ll be safe.”  
  
Panacea said something incoherent in between quiet sobs in response.  
  
I looked over to her, “We’re gonna get Bonesaw, don’t worry. I hate to ask, but...did you see what she did with my outfit?”  
  
Panacea nodded slowly after a moment. Her answer came slowly, “She...used it...to make...this...**thing**.” She pulled at the white outfit with utter revulsion, the seams pulling her skin with them.  
  
I paled. Was my kamui gone then? It was one of the few items I had left of my Dad at this point, a lot of the stuff that had been in storage limbo from the house had been destroyed by Leviathan.  
  
Panacea pointed weakly, her arm trembling, “Think...it’s in the box.”  
  
I sighed a breath of relief, jogging over to the box at the side of her table and seeing a familiar red and black outfit at the bottom. Scooping it out I held it out to inspect it. It was the same as ever, a bit ragged and dirty looking, but whole. I had been worried for a moment that Bonesaw had used it for parts, but it seemed intact.  
  
Adamant spoke up from behind me, “We need to get the both of you back to the hospital. Let’s go.”  
  
I paused. Could I leave while the battle still went on? It galled me to do so, but at the same time I clearly needed to get my information to the Protectorate and re-gear. I also needed to catch up on what had happened while I was out of the loop. There was nothing for it I supposed.  
  
I held my kamui close to my chest and nodded, stepping on Kid Win’s hoverboard. He kicked off and we headed for the hospital.  
  
  



	21. Chapter 14: Ride Like The Wind

### Chapter 14: Ride Like The Wind

  
The hospital was a busy mess, people were rushing back and forth. Masks were everywhere, if I had to guess the Protectorate had given up on playing along and was bringing in every volunteer they could get. It seemed to be a lot, judging by the bright colors mixed in with the hospital staff and patients. I followed Adamant as he brought Panacea into a cordoned off room. He gestured for me to follow him inside, but held a hand up to Kid Win, keeping him out as he closed the doors.  
  
He tapped his earpiece, “Panacea and Ichor delivered to room B-117. Initiating M/S protocols.”  
  
M/S Protocols. The words made me grit my teeth. I understood the need of course. The Nine had an unknown Stranger and we had both received surgery from Bonesaw, who was displaying new powers and abilities. The idea that we had been compromised wasn’t far-fetched in the slightest. It was irksome, definitely, since Master/Stranger protocol usually meant we’d be in for at least several hours of questioning while the battle raged on without us.  
  
I looked to Adamant, “Can I get a debrief on what’s happened while I was out?”  
  
He shook his head, “You know the answer to that Ichor. Full Master/Stranger precautions have to be taken. Neither of you can leave this room until we know you’re safe. Bonesaw has certainly tried her hand at mind control before.”  
  
Panacea looked up from where she had sat down on the edge of the cot. Her face was still marred by dried trails of tears and snot.  
  
“Can you at least tell me if Vicky is okay?”  
  
Adamant frowned, it looked like it was to himself, “No. I’m sorry. You know why…”  
  
Panacea snarled, “What I know is I don’t even know if my only sister is alive!”  
  
I motioned downwards to her, “Look, it’s tough, I know, but he’s right. They have some sort of Stranger at the very least, we have to be careful.”  
  
Panacea snapped back quietly, “How am I supposed to be calm and wait when I don’t know if she’s okay? If it was your family...”  
  
Something in me twitched at the trailing remark, “At least you have family to worry about. You had the luck of Bonesaw spending most of her time with me and you don’t see me in pieces over this.”  
  
Panacea raised her voice, “Oh, I should feel lucky she only sewed an outfit onto my skin and made me break- I... I don’t even know if surviving any of it was worth it because I don’t know if Vicky is okay or not...Everything is falling apart!”  
  
Panacea was falling apart in front of me, her voice getting more hysterical with each note. I couldn’t help but get a bit frustrated with her. She had a family, not just parents and a sister, but cousins and so on. She was renowned across the country for being a paragon among capes with how many people she helped. She had barely been toy to Bonesaw’s whims for as long as I had. And above all, her hysteria would be extending our quarantine time. That was time I could be out helping my team. Hunting down the Nine. If any of them were hurt while I was stuck in her just because she couldn’t keep it together…  
  
Adamant took slow steps towards her, “It’ll be alright lass. We just need to make sure you’re all you. Just try some deep breaths while we ride it out.”  
  
Panacea shook her head, curling inward, her mutterings hushed.  
  
I ground my teeth, “Every minute you spend having a breakdown is one we’re stuck in here.”  
  
She looked up, wiping a tear from her eye, “We can’t all be like you...big heroes who can just shrug off the pain and save the day…”  
  
“You’re a bigger hero than either of us, you’ve saved hundreds on a daily basis.”  
  
She laughed pathetically, “Am I? I can’t protect my sister like you could. I couldn’t do anything against Bonesaw even. I’m dead weight outside of a hospital.”  
  
Adamant shook his head, “And we’re dead weight inside of one. Or as soon as someone gets hurt. It’s no doubt you’ve had a huge impact. Hell, you’ve got a better track record than almost anyone, not like you get into incidents and no one can spin curing cancer as a bad thing.”  
  
Panacea looked down again, “I’m not perfect...not like you think I am.”  
  
Adamant smiled, “Hey, no one’s perfect, but that doesn’t make you bad either!”  
  
Panacea shook her head, “You don’t get it…I’m not-”  
  
I froze as the shadow of a thought flickered through my mind.  
  
“What did you do?”  
  
They both turned towards me. Adamant looked confused, his wide shoulders pushed forward in disapproval. Pancea looked frozen in horror, moving as if slowed to one tenth speed.  
  
“I didnt-...I wasn’t-...”  
  
Adamant turned half towards Panacea, looking cautiously between us.  
  
I spoke flatly, “What. did. you. do?”  
  
She threw her hands around herself, “I had no choice! She said it was the only way I’d see Vicky alive again! That they would get the Siberian to finish her…”  
  
Adamant chewed his lip, his hand hovering over his earpiece. Before I could think of my reply, Panacea continued, blabbering out a half lucid stream of consciousness.  
  
“I never wanted to...I had rules! But she wanted me to help her, help her so she could work with those tinkertech fibers more easily. Said they weren’t technically a part of her power, so she still had some trouble...I couldn’t just kill her, her body is different and I could barely wrap my head around it. I just tweaked her a little. Just enough so she wouldn’t kill Vicky! I had to help my sister!”  
  
Adamant glanced at her worryingly, “Instead of doing whatever you did, why not just fake it?”  
  
Panacea shook her head again, “It wasn’t that easy. She can tell, she knows biology too well for me to trick easily...She’s already modified her body so much it would’ve taken time for me to figure it out. On top of that she’s full of viruses, bacteria...plagues of all kinds. She could’ve killed half of New York in hours if she wanted to.”  
  
It was my turn to chew my lip. The news was getting worse and worse. We already knew Bonesaw could concoct plagues, but that she had so many ready to release was disheartening. Right now we were lucky she hadn’t decided it was worth it to eradicate the city, but with how volatile she seemed, it was anyone’s guess. I might have some immunity if I used my blood control to keep it from spreading through my system, but it was debateable. My fine control suffered at that level and it would take most of my concentration, if it worked even.  
  
I half-glared, but confusion gave way, “How did you even affect her power then? I thought that was in the brains, you don’t do brains.”  
  
Panacea wilted, “I don’t- I didn’t...It was a rule I set. So I didn’t become a monster, didn’t accidentally change people. Brains are so complicated! Just because I can look at them and understand them doesn’t mean I can tweak them safely.”  
  
The revelation washed over me, something that clearly meant the world to her barely even bothered me. At the moment I was far, far more concerned with the implications it had for us. If Panacea had been able to tweak Bonesaw to be able to work with my tinkertech more smoothly…  
  
I clenched my teeth, “You gave away the secrets to my Dad’s legacy, you gave Bonesaw the tools to kill how many more, and you broke your own code apparently and for what? Some vague threats against your sister? You didn’t even try to resist her!”  
  
Adamant stepped in between, holding his hands out, “Whoa, whoa, calm down girls-”  
  
Panacea shrieked, “My sister is more important than all of that! You’re supposed to be the hero, I’m just a healer! Why didn’t you save me?”  
  
“I did save you, you’re here, aren’t you?!”  
  
“Oh yeah, _after_ Bonesaw did-did- all that to me!”  
  
“I’m sorry, I was too busy having my insides replaced to save your little pity party-”  
  
Adamant put a hand on Panacea’s shoulder, “I know you’re both a little stressed-”  
  
Panacea whipped her arm around, her fist slamming into Adamant’s chest and sending him stumbling back. My eyes widened in surprise; Adamant was a Brute and he looked to be hurting. He was bent over, holding his chest with his eyes squeezed shut.  
  
“Don’t touch me! Oh god, oh god, oh god-”  
  
I stepped forward, “Panacea-”  
  
She squared her shoulders, “No, don’t! Im-I’m going to find Vicky. I need to know I didn’t ruin everything for nothing.”  
  
I held out my blade in one hand, the other held my kamui close to my side. I still hadn’t had a chance to put it on, everything had been so hectic since I had gotten my hands on it again.  
  
“I can’t let you do that. We have to stay in M/S containment. Especially with how you’re acting.”  
  
Panacea got up from the bed and started walking over to the door. The security camera in the room tracking her. I imagined an alarm had gone off when she had hit Adamant. Up until then it was probably fine, they’d be monitoring us to see if we acted erratically or abnormally. Attacking other heroes though would have whatever capes were on guard duty scrambling to get in position.  
  
I had a second, two at most, to consider my options. I could stop Panacea, but it felt like that would almost certainly lead to a fight. She could alter biology with a touch. Typically I had thought of it as healing, but I wasn’t so sure it was that limited anymore. So I couldn’t let her touch me, a second of contact could be enough for her to do something. Alternatively, I could avoid fighting her and let her walk out. But would she surrender to whatever capes were currently assembling outside the door? Somehow I doubted it would be much different than if I tried to stop her. Either way, no matter what I did, I could only see taking her down as the final outcome. Might as well do it first so no one else got hurt.  
  
I lunged forward and swung the blade, twisted so the flat was the striking surface, for the side of her head. Panacea ducked haphazardly under the blade. She was fast, but her movement was clearly sloppy and unpracticed. Right now she was just a ball of emotion, unbridled and without direction. That kind of character would only complicate the situation.  
  
“What?-” She sputtered, momentary surprise being replaced with anger.  
  
I brought the blade down on her shoulder, smacking her down onto the ground with a crack in the air. I hoped I hadn’t broken her clavicle, but I had to be careful. If she got past my blade, I couldn’t risk kicking or striking her without the chance she’d find skin to touch. It was a bit cruel considering what she had gone through, but the potential damage she could do was worth it. I wondered if Bonesaw hadn’t messed with her mind after all. If not Bonesaw, had Jack or their Stranger? Panacea was going off the handle.  
  
Surprise shot through me as Panacea picked herself up from the floor shakily. I hadn’t expected her to get back up, at least not for a minute. Steam vented from the back of her outfit, the oddly wedding-dress-esque uniform that was reminiscent of my own. Another kamui? I wouldn’t put it beyond Bonesaw entirely, but if it was like mine it would just drain her dry after long. Hopefully she didn’t know how to use it anyway.  
  
Panacea glared out from the tangle of her hair and flipped three silver bands on the arm of the outfit with shaky fingers.  
  
_Might as well say ‘What else could go wrong?’. Way to jinx it…_  
  
A flash of light filled the room and I was dazzled for a moment. Panacea stood before me in a mixture of anger and embarrassment, her face red as a tomato. The outfit had transformed much like mine did, which was to say poorly. In lieu of the fairly formal looking uniform was...very little. White gloves and thigh highs covered her limbs, a central stripe of blue adorning each. Her gloves notably ended on top of the hand, leaving her palm and fingers exposed. Beyond that there wasn’t much. A sling bikini essentially covered the rest of her, which she in turn tried to cover with her arms as soon as she realized what she had done.  
  
“Pathetic.” I hissed out.  
  
My blade lashed for her again, connecting with her arm and sending her careening into the sterile white wall. Her anger was enough she’d risk all of us, but she didn’t even have the conviction to stand straight when her kamui showed off her chest a bit? Oh, I didn’t like my kamui much. I had no illusions about its stylistic choices being terrible. But if I was going to use it, I owned it. If she was going to try to use my own dad’s tinkertech against me, she should have the backbone to do it right.  
  
Panacea pushed herself off the wall where she had nearly collapsed with an unbalanced heave and I slammed the side of the blade for her again. She would stay down. She had chosen the worst time to develop some moxie and if she didn’t have the conviction to stand by it then I would punish her for it. Once she stayed down, I could be moved to a different screening room and get back out. To where where I was needed, with my team.  
  
She threw herself to the side and dodged my strike. Again, sloppy and untrained. She scrambled back and threw a punch at the wall, dust billowed as concrete crashed into the hallway on the other side. She disappeared into the dust cloud and I heard the crash of footsteps as the heroes who had been waiting in the hall rushed to subdue her.  
  
I looked to Adamant, who was still nursing his chest. The unexpected blow had taken him by surprise and I suspected her hadn’t braced himself using his power at all. He grimaced to me and made eyes as if asking would I follow. I spun my finger in a circle, gesturing he turn around. A moment of confusion and I repeated it. This time he complied.  
  
I took the time to change. While whatever Bonesaw had done had clearly augmented me, I knew I’d be much stronger with my kamui. And while I had learned to deal with being...sparsely dressed in front of others, entirely nude was not acceptable. So in order to change, I needed a moment of privacy.  
  
Now would probably be the only time I’d have for quite a bit, so I made due.  
  
Off came the borrowed clothes, on came the kamui. It felt _right_ to have it on again. I had felt, not helpless, but certainly less capable without it. A thought sparked and made me realize this was how Armsmaster must usually feel. He wasn’t helpless without his suit and halberd by far, but they completed him. Turned him from just a well trained cape into someone who could dance between Leviathan’s claws. Perhaps that Tinker 0 rating wasn’t as silly as it had first sounded.  
  
I gave Adamant a short whistle and he turned back around.  
  
“I’m going to chase her. Just tell whoever’s in charge what happened.”  
  
He nodded. The way he held his chest made me wonder if Panacea hadn’t managed to use her power as well, he didn’t seem to be recovering at all. I waved him off and stepped through the hole in the wall that Panacea had escaped through. The hallway’s pristine white had been tarnished with scuff marks and dents. The sickly sterile smell replaced with that of sweat and adrenaline. I followed the path of damage left by her retreat at a light job, knowing she couldn’t have gone far.  
  
As I turned a corner I heard the sounds of negotiation. A cape dressed in alabaster and yellow, almost garish in how poorly it went together, was speaking. He was tall and lithe, his costume made of fabrics that suggested he either didn’t need protection or usually wasn’t in the line of fire. He was accompanied by a larger woman, grossly over-muscled with long braids that almost trailed to the ground. She held a shovel defensively.  
  
“Stop! We don’t want to hurt you!”  
  
“I have to get to my sister, get out of my way!”  
  
Panacea rushed the pair from the dead-end they had cornered her in. The muscular woman stepped in the way, body blocking her with a grunt as they collided. She was pushed back, stumbling back a few steps. The man shot wires from his wrist which criss-crossed Panacea. She struggled for a moment before yanking on them, sending the man tumbling forward. Whatever he had been trying hadn’t worked I guessed. I needed to step in before this escalated any further.  
  
“Panacea!”  
  
I strode forward, slowly but with purpose. I had learned the importance of conveying the right image. It helped not just to inspire my team, but to cow others. Sometimes the right image ended a fight before it began.  
  
“Surrender. You know why we can’t just let you go.”  
  
She tore the wires off her and leaned forward aggressively. The woman was kneeling next to the man and helping him up, still precariously between the two of us.  
  
“I have to see my sister, I need to see Bonesaw!”  
  
Everything froze for an instant. Panacea looked down, horrified at her own mouth. I had known something was off, but now. Now I worried for my own sanity. I had been under the blade as well, had my intentions been warped? The best thing I could do was subdue Panacea and put us both in M/S containment.  
  
I resumed my walk forwards, holding the blade low and ready in my right.  
  
“Last chance.”  
  
Panacea trembled, hesitating. She shook her head violently and bunched up her hands into fists. I spoke softly and took a long inhale..  
  
“Override Kamui Junketsu.”  
  
The room flashed with light as my kamui transformed, shaped and bent by my will. The savage intelligence inside had long since learned to bow to my will over the last couple of months, though it still lurked resentfully. I felt the well of power rise up within me, it felt greater than before in some way. Like I was more in-tune with the kamui.  
  
Panacea rushed forward and I whipped the blade low to high across the hall, batting her out of the air almost effortlessly. She grunted as she was thrown into the wall, picking herself up and trying again. High to low, the blade pushed her down onto the floor. She shrieked in impotent rage. The two capes watched from the side, exercising their better judgement since it was under control.  
  
I knew the power kamuis had, if hers was anything like mine she was woefully underutilizing it. She hadn’t yet figured out how to push it to her will. She might’ve even been suffering from blood loss already. I knew this wasn’t fight, but a demonstration.  
  
She threw an IV pole at me and I cut it cleanly, sending the broken halves careening down to my sides. She wasn’t a fight by any means. She was learning on her feet, but it would be too much, too fast. She made to rush me again, but hesitated slightly. I read into the reserved stance of her legs, the way she braced herself pre-emptively. A feint then.  
  
She rushed forward and I swung, playing into it. She took the blow and grabbed onto the blade as she braced herself, trying to deny me what she must’ve perceived as my advantage. She took a moment to consider what to do, perhaps how to wrest the blade from my grip. I didn’t need that moment.  
  
Instead I pivoted on the ball of my foot and broke my other foot crashing into the side of her head. A calculated risk, risking contact on the bet that she wouldn’t be conscious enough to take advantage of it. As Panacea crumpled into unconsciousness, I pulled my blade back from her loosening grip and exhaled.  
  
I gestured to the two capes, “Either of you have a headset? Call in for a containment team. She’s down and I’m voluntarily surrendering myself back to Master-Stranger screening.”  
  
The woman nodded, her voice slightly slurred, “Sure.” She put her hand to her headset, mumbling off approximately what I had told her, though with added uncertainty.  
  
I watched Panacea’s slow breathing as she laid haphazardly on the floor. She wore a kamui and hadn’t been consumed by it. That alone was a surprise. Our tests with uniforms of greater than 30% had indicated there was an inherent risk and it only got worse as one approached a full life fiber outfit like a kamui. So did she actually have the force of will to use a kamui or was it just a mixture of Bonesaw’s meddling and her own powers that had let her? It was a question I’d have to pursue once the Nine were sorted out. She might not be ideal, but having anyone who could wield a second kamui was potentially promising. I had managed to stall Leviathan up with heroes like Armsmaster and Alexandria using mine after all.  
  
The PRT troopers came down the hall, keeping their formation and checking the corners as they did. Foam sprayers were at the ready, primarily pointed at Panacea, though I noticed a few in my direction. _Hmph a bit unnecessary, but I guess it’s protocol._ Three capes formed the center of the formation, ones I didn’t recognize. More proof that the Protectorate was at least finally throwing everything at the Nine now. I let my override of Junketsu fall off and returned to its base form, no need to spook them and Panacea was well under control now.  
  
The lead cape walked forward, his costume an electric mix of blue and yellow which hinted at an obvious powerset, “Ichor! Thanks for helping catch her, we honestly didn’t put much of a guard because...well, it’s Panacea, you know?”  
  
I simply nodded, moving to the side so the troopers could move past me more easily.  
  
“Let’s get moving, the sooner I can get through M/S, the better.”  
  
He chuckled a little, “I feel you, it’s a pain every time. You don’t need to get checked out for any injuries, do you?”  
  
I shook my head as I walked with him, leaving the others to secure Panacea, “No, she doesn’t have a good control over the strength Bonesaw gave her yet. And I think whatever mental influence she tried didn’t work as well as she wanted. Get her restrained asap though.”  
  
The man rubbed his chin, “Hmmm...that’s good. She’s only debuted this...what was it, life fiber tech?...recently, so maybe she’s still getting the hang of it.”  
  
The thought sparked another in my head. _Maybe that’s why she needed Panacea. The tech wasn’t originally hers so she couldn’t get it to work perfectly. If she did the mind control procedure to induce Panacea to help her, she would’ve had to have done it before she was in sync with the tech. She could’ve used her old tech, but it seems like she’s almost given that up except as augmentations to the life fiber tech. So that makes her a Tinker with new toys. She’ll go to ground and whip up the next generation probably._  
  
_But what are the rest of the Nine doing? A full out brawl isn’t their style and Jack hasn’t been present much except for his initial announcement. The entire thing breaks their pattern a bit too much. Something is off and I’m missing it._  
  
The man looked to me with amusement, “Anything interesting going on in there?”  
  
I shook my head, “Nothing I can really share until I’m cleared, but I think I’ve got a better idea of what Bonesaw is upto.”  
  
He raised his eyebrows as we turned a corner, “That sounds important. Well I hope you get cleared quickly. We can use all the help we can get.”  
  
I rolled my shoulders, stretching my arms out as he paused to gesture me to enter the room first, “It’s a pain, but given what just happened it’s clearly necessary.”  
  
He gave a chuckle, slowly closing the door, “Exactly. Now if you don’t need anything, I’m just gonna leave you here. Should only be ten or so minutes I think.”  
  
I gave him an uneager thumbs up and the door shut with a slam and the sound of pressurized air equilibrating. _Interesting._ I had some spare time to myself since it would be a little bit before the questions and screenings and tedious but seemingly irrelevant task lists. I inspected the room they had left me in. It looked like a more advanced version of a normal hospital room. There was a bed, a medical drawer, an IV pole, all the usual medical adjuvants one expected. But everything was a bit more precise and clean. A quarantine room perhaps? It would make sense with the air system being self-contained or filtered.  
  
_Perfect for if Bonesaw laid a trap like a plague for someone to bring back. _ Shit, I hadn’t even considered the potential outbreak she could’ve caused just from having her hands on me. With Panacea compromised that would lower the number of people who could give the all clear too. This wasn’t my day. Wasn’t my last few days really.  
  
After a short eternity the questions began via intercom. First were the sensical ones that I suspected had rarely ever caught anyone:  
  
“Do you plan to harm yourself or anyone else?”  
“Do you swear to abide by all government and PRT rules?”  
“Do you swear that you carry no plagues, diseases, viral vectors, or other harmful devices?”  
  
Then came the more esoteric ones, ones that presumably some Thinker had dreamed up and thought useful. I suspected several were questionably legal to ask a minor, but I was also in a legal limbo with possibly helping the enemy if I was mastered, so I gave it a pass. Then came a few motor coordination tests, some reflex tests, stepping out to be scanned via both CT and MRI, and finally back to waiting.  
  
I decided to spend my short break meditating and very decisively not thinking over anything that had happened or whether or not I had failed a test and was secretly being Mastered. My wait was broken by the sound of the door opening. I cracked my eyes open and saw a familiar figure clad in blue and silver striding in with purpose.  
  
I looked to Armsmaster in surprise, “I honestly didn’t expect to see you.”  
  
Armsmaster frowned slightly, a rueful look on his face, “My not keeping a close eye on my Wards lead to a lot of people getting hurt before. I’m trying to...make up for past mistakes as best I can.”  
  
I smiled slightly, “But we aren’t your Wards anymore.”  
  
Armsmaster held up a finger and smiled, “Wrong. You’ll always be my Wards.”  
  
I cracked a smile. _Armsmaster making corny statements? Maybe he’s the one who’s been mastered._ Armsmaster took a chair and sat down across from me. A pensive look on his face as he started to speak.  
  
“You’re tentatively cleared for Master or Stranger influences. However, we have some questions we’d like to ask about what happened.”  
  
I knew at some point this would happen. I gestured for him to get on with it.  
  
“First, can you tell me what happened?”  
  
I nodded, “Yeah. I went to assist Flechette and Jouster. Turned out to be a trap I think, Bonesaw was too ready for me. Did something that got through my suit, made me pass out. How are they? I didn’t see if they made it out.”  
  
Armsmaster frowned slightly, “Flechette is fine, Jouster didn’t make it. What happened when you woke up?”  
  
I made an unsure motion with my hands, “Hard to say. I kept waking up and getting put under again. I think whatever she used wasn’t working as well as she hoped. When I finally woke up for good she kept talking about wanting more sisters and her tech. She’s crazy, and not the usual crazy but actually unhinged I think.”  
  
Armsmaster’s attention was caught by the obvious word, “Her tech, did she say anything useful about it?”  
  
“Yeah. She thought that life fibers and powers might work off similar mechanics? She wanted to test it by generating a large effect through...well, me. And she said her power doesn’t interact with the fibers perfectly, but I think that was before Panacea changed her.”  
  
He looked like he was concentrating, probably using his visor to look something up while we spoke. “Yes, I’ve read the incident report. Panacea apparently can affect brains and did change Bonesaw’s to be more compatible. We don’t know if she can truly affect powers via the brain, but if so it presents a significant complication. Anything else?”  
  
“I get the feeling I wasn’t her end goal. What she was doing to me was...testing. I think she’ll go to ground and prepare something else. She’s not fitting in with the normal patterns of the Nine anymore, I don’t think we can rely on her previous behavior.”  
  
Armsmaster nodded, “Agreed. Jack Slash hasn’t been sighted since his reveal, Mannequin hasn’t been seen at all, and Cherish is confirmed as deceased. We don’t know where Jack Slash has gone to, but it seems like he’s no longer in charge. This puts the Nine in a chaotic state. We’re assuming all bets are off and going for a full takedown. Alexandria and Eidolon are lending their aid, as well as heroes and villains from across the East coast.”  
  
I volunteered more at the pause, “I was saved by some. Villains that is. They had a teleporter, a rogue I think, and used him to drop the Butcher in and take me out.”  
  
Armsmaster did something inside his visor, “That matches with what we saw then. We got word of the battle quickly enough, but it was already underway when we arrived. We’ve been swamped between trying to stop Crawler and holding back Leet’s army.”  
  
I furrowed my brow, “Army?”  
  
He sighed, “Leet, as you know, can make anything once. Apparently he had not yet made a Manton-limited gray goo. Harlem is currently under siege. We have it contained and we’re steadily whittling them down, but it’s a slow process and we can’t afford to cut corners on it. It took a lot of resources I would’ve rather spent tracking you down.”  
  
I thinned my lips, about to speak, but stopped. I found a better thought path.  
  
“How long was I out?”  
  
“39 hours since we lost contact.”  
  
_Damn, that’s a lot of lost time._ “Can you get me up to speed then?”  
  
He spoke quickly and efficiently, “After we lost contact a wide area search was started to find you. Panacea was abducted following an engagement with Siberian, Shatterbird, Burnscar, and an unknown Stranger, temporary designation Amnesiac. Crawler and Leet were being managed in North Brooklyn while search and rescue tracked Bonesaw. Several times we almost caught her, but she managed to escape. After 12 hours we lost her trail and had to divert resources due to the appearance of Leet’s machines. Harlem was quickly overrun and the majority of resources were diverted to containing it. Seven hours ago we got intel indicating the Butcher and other villains had engaged the Nine near an office building in Manhattan. We arrived on the scene and engaged Shatterbird, Burnscar, the Siberian, and Bonesaw. We engaged Bonesaw while Kid Win was under orders to extract you. Unfortunately Bonesaw managed to escape yet again, displaying supernatural speed and reflexes as well as a possible Breaker state. She has not been sighted since. A battery of tests was run on both you and Panacea for lasting effects.”  
  
That wasn’t too much to take in. The timescale threw me off, it had felt almost continuous to me. I asked, “How is Panacea?”  
  
He frowned, he was doing that a lot today, “Undergoing treatment. Life fiber tech was found in her skull cavity and appears to be acting as a form of Master influence. It’ll take time for us to clear her, but we think it’s possible.”  
  
I thought on that. So we had Harlem contained, but had to be careful to prevent another Ellisburg. Cherish was dead, so the Nine were down at least one, possibly two if Jack Slash had really disappeared. He hadn’t listed any relevant casualties so I had to assume all of my friends were okay. Armsmaster wasn’t always the most socially savvy but I doubted he would withhold information like that.  
  
Armsmaster shifted in his seat, “Ichor, I can’t help but notice you’ve refrained from asking about your own results.”  
  
I cringed, “Who’s been teaching you how to read people so well?”  
  
He replied tersely, “Dragon has been very helpful in assisting both with the current crisis and my personal projects.”  
  
I had been trying to avoid thinking about what had happened to me. It wasn’t really a memory I wanted to relive. In fact, I’d be happier if I never had to remember it again. Being helpless on that table as Bonesaw took me apart had been...horrifying. At the time I had tried to focus on escape, to do anything but feel how she had just moved parts of me around. I bent over, trying not to vomit at the memory.  
  
Armsmaster leaned forward in concern, “Do you need some time? I can also grab a doctor if that’d help.”  
  
I suppressed the sickly sweet hot saliva that filled my mouth, the feel of my stomach trying to upheave itself focusing my mind. I pushed it down, kept swallowing over and over so I wouldn’t vomit. I wouldn’t let her win. I wouldn't let her scar me. I was in control now. It took me a minute as my stomach slowed in its rebellion, the hard pit slowly softening and relaxing as it started to relent. After I felt like I was under control again I waved him to continue.  
  
“Go on.”  
  
Armsmaster paused, his face hard to read behind the half mask visor. “We did some scans to see the extent of what Bonesaw did. Fortunately we think there’s no mastering occurring. You lack the same stitching we see that has Panacea's CNS entrapped. In fact, you don't have overt modifications at all. The results were complex. Our current theory is that Bonesaw rebuilt or reworked almost every cell in your body, possibly using a retrovirus though we think she might've done something more advanced. Your current biology seems to incorporate life fibers into it’s structure and your cells work with them in a fully symbiotic manner. We think you may be closer to a Brute 9 or even 10 at this point given the increased durability when you use your outfit.”  
  
He held out a hand mirror. I realized I hadn't looked at myself since before Bonesaw had grabbed me. My long dark hair had a bright red streak running through it now. My skin I expected to be pallored, my eyes tired and bagged, but in fact I looked fairly healthy. Even where I knew I had been cut open there were no signs of scarring. I shivered slightly at how out of sync it felt.  
  
I sat there for a moment, letting myself process. So Bonesaw had actually gone and fused me with it. I wasn’t even really human anymore, but some sort of weird hybrid between human and life fiber. A fucked up creation made by her. I had pushed myself to become almost more than human, a paragon, and she had gone and made me less. Half tinkertech.  
  
Armsmaster interrupted my thoughts, “Taylor. If you need to sit this one out, no one will blame you. What you’ve gone through, no one should have to go through. We have psychiatrists on hand.”  
  
I whipped my gaze up to meet his, “And let her get away with this? She bastardized my Dad’s tech, stole my inheritance. No, I’m going back out and I’m going to destroy the Nine. You said she made me tougher, faster, right?”  
  
He nodded.  
  
“Then let’s make her regret that.”  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I noticed that apparently I switched from Foil pre-Leviathan fight to Flechette post-Levi. Just assume she had a rebranding and not that I got confused.


	22. Interlude 7: Aisha Laborn

### Interlude 7: Aisha Laborn

  
Aisha frowned. Aisha was doing a lot of that lately, which totally didn’t fit with the message she had been given when she signed up. Get back at the world, they said. Have fun and fuck with anyone who annoys you, they said. Treat the world as unfairly as it treated you, they said. Well right now they were not living up to their promises. And by they, she meant Jack. Wherever the fuck he had gone.  
  
She had really dug it when she first met him. Brian was dead, there was literally nothing good in her life anymore. Why shouldn’t she use her new powers for her, instead of protecting the same people who had let her mom be a neglectful addict or let her brother die? Fuck them, they didn’t deserve her cool new power that she didn’t completely hate because it reminded her of being at home. Sure the Nine had kill orders and all that, but she didn’t really see herself as being that bad. Besides, no one even remembered her well enough for them to place her as on the Nine. She made sure to keep herself on the down-low.  
  
But now...well, she had some doubts. Jack hadn’t been around in a few days and Bonesaw was really tweaking out hard. Aisha had kept her power on, turning it off was the only thing that required effort after all, and stayed out of it. Bonesaw had started screaming, then she had laughed a lot, then she had go on about wild promises of a new, better family. And now here they were. She didn’t really get it, but somehow Bonesaw had shifted from ‘I’ll build a better family, with blackjack and hookers’ to ‘let’s fuck up everyone in a hundred mile radius minimum’. Everyone in the Nine was kinda fucked up, but Aisha was pretty sure that Bonesaw had hit a whole different level.  
  
And the rest of the Nine were being creepy. Burnscar, Shatterbird, Leet all just put up with her shit and helped her. Crawler and Siberian didn’t really care either way, being basically immortal. Jack had gone off somewhere and Cherish was dead. Which basically left her. She had let her power flip back on when Bonesaw first wanted to give her ‘enhancements’ that sounded a bit too much like mind control. Well, they sounded great, but she saw how Leet had changed and that was fucked up. She’d avoided it ever since, just by only appearing when Jack was around. He was the only one who seemed to understand and support her hesitation. And now he was gone.  
  
It all came back to that, didn’t it? Jack had recruited her, been the only one she thought was kinda chill, and now he was gone.  
  
So why was she still here?  
  
Fuck. Why was she still here? Bonesaw’s weird project was almost certainly going to either kill everyone in New York or get them all killed by a nuke or something when the heroes found out. Being here was a really really bad idea at the moment. Aisha trembled a little in the corner she sat in. She had just wanted to escape. To forget Brockton Bay and all its shit. Why had it come to this? This was fucked up. She wasn’t really a good person by any means, but she didn’t want to be a part of _this_.  
  
Brian’s voice came to mind, “You gotta be more careful, you’re going to end up in over your head.”  
  
Shit. Shit shit shit fuck damn shit. She smacked the ground and her fist hurt for it. No one noticed. No one ever noticed. The only person who had before was dead, and the person she had thought would remember her was fucking missing. She sat there for awhile, just feeling numb and overwhelmed.  
  
Eventually, she let go of her knees. She stood up. And she walked out.  
  
Aisha Laborn wasn’t going to be part of this anymore.  
  
  


\---  


  
Aisha sat on the dumpster, idly spinning the butterfly knife around her thumb.  
  
“So, like, hypothetically if someone knew that an entire city was gonna get fucked by a cape what should they do?”  
  
The man looked between her and the knife, voice shaking, “Uh, shit, that’s heavy. I guess call the PRT and get the hell outta town? I ain’t never had to deal with that kinda thing before, ya know?”  
  
She gave him a ‘that’s fair’ gesture, “Alright, yeah. But what if, purely hypothetical here, said person might’ve been partially responsible?”  
  
The man shrugged, “Oh, oh fuck...I dunno? Look, I just deal shit, I ain’t a philosopher…”  
  
Aisha stopped twirling the blade.  
  
He put his hands up defensively, “But! But-but-but I got a friend who’s pretty smart ‘n shit. Went to Columbia. He’s usually up late. I can give him a call and maybe he can answer your shit?”  
  
Aisha raised an eyebrow, “Friend?”  
  
The man withered, “Customer. Whatever, you know what I mean. I’m just gonna call him, aight?”  
  
Aisha gave a shrug and went back to playing with her butterfly knife. The man shakily pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed. After a tense moment he sagged with relief as the person on the other side picked up.  
  
“Hey man, sorry to bother ya so late….No, no, it’s all good...I got a, uh...friend here who’s got some heavy philosophical shit and I wanted to help her out, but I don’t know any o’ that stuff…..Yeah….No, no she’s chill...yeah I think it might be?....Cool, thanks man. I owe you a little something. See ya.”  
  
The man flipped the phone shut. Who the fuck had a flip phone anymore? Aisha turned her attention back to him and he curled inwards again.  
  
He spat out anxiously, “He’s cool to meet up, grab some beers ‘n talk to you. It’s this little bar in the Upper East Side. We all good?”  
  
Aisha licked her teeth, trying to see if she felt good about it. She wasn’t sure, so she just nodded to him and shrugged.  
  
“Yeah, we good. Thanks.”  
  
The man scurried off and Aisha let her power slip back, hopping off the dumpster. She had a train to catch.  
  
  


\---

  
  
Aisha walked out of the bar with a buzz and a lot to think about it. There had been a lot of philosophical bullshit to start, but then the guy had moved into more grounded stuff. Stuff she could get behind. Things like responsibility and just how far anyone was responsible for anyone else. What she wanted to actually do with her life and how this would get her there. She didn’t have much of a plan, but she had some vague ideas.  
  
She couldn’t join the Protectorate. No way, no how was she going to be stuck following a bunch of stuck-up adults for years and years while being stuck filling out forms and going to talk about how drugs are bad at local schools. Not to mention they miiiiight just connect the Stranger that asked to join with the Stranger that had been on the Nine. They couldn’t prove it, she thought, but it didn’t sound like a great idea to her.  
  
She could join a different villain team, but she didn’t really know any in New York. There were the Teeth, but the Butcher creeped her out when she saw her. Also the Elite and the Ascepts or something. All pretentious sounding names, probably run by pretentious sounding people. Not really her style.  
  
She wandered over to the alley where she had left her stuff. She hadn’t wanted to go in costume and she couldn’t hide the stuff with her power off. She grabbed the ratty backpack with her costume and gear in it, the hilt of a scissor blade sticking out. Bonesaw had said it could cut through Ichor’s defenses and even her own life fiber stuff. They were supposed to be a pair, like actual giant fucking scissors, in order to work properly. So when Aisha had bugged out, she grabbed one half. She figured it’d fuck up Bonesaw’s plans a bit, maybe let Ichor get in and take her down.  
  
Aisha figured her best bet was to call it in, get an airstrike on Bonesaw, and hang out to make sure it didn’t go south. She hadn’t bought a lot of what the guy she had met was selling, but he had been kindof right on one point. She had helped Bonesaw, so she was partly responsible for what happened. Which meant she shouldn’t just fuck off and hope it all worked out. She could, but she probably shouldn’t.  
  
She groaned to herself. It sucked and she hated it, but he was right. Brian would’ve been pissed at her if he was still around, especially if she didn’t try to fix her own fuck-up. She wandered down the street looking for a payphone. It took a few minutes, but she found one. She didn’t have change so she just pick-pocketed a passerby. He can deal with it, I’m saving his life. She dialed the number for the PRT emergency hotline.  
  
“PRT Emergency line, what’s your emergency?”  
  
“So, um, Bonesaw has a lab set up in Hamilton Heights and is preparing some weird Tinkertech thing to turn everyone in the city into life fiber soldiers or some shit so she can turn the world into some sortof fucked up cocoon thing?”  
  
“Prank calls to the PRT are punishable by law Ma’am.”  
  
“No! Fuck no! She’s actually there, I just don’t know the words for it. Fuck, I’m not a Tinker. Look, just get some missiles out there and take her down.”  
  
“Okay. How did you come by this information and are you safe?”  
  
“As safe as anyone in this city, and I overheard her. She’s kinda crazy right now, just talks into thin air about her evil schemes.”  
  
“Would you be willing to come into the PRT Office closest to you to file a full report?”  
  
“Uh, no, thanks, just nuke her soon, bye!”  
  
Aisha slammed the phone onto the receiver. Her power had been on the whole time, so she should’ve been safe from anyone listening in. She still wanted to get a few blocks away in case they sent a cape to try and question her or something. Damn it, she didn’t know if they’d take a random call seriously. She had kinda screwed it up, the lady on the other end didn’t sound very convinced.  
  
Aisha started to make her way uptown. She had to keep an eye on things, in case the PRT didn’t take her seriously. If she could find that Ichor chick, she’d listen. She had been using the same stuff Bonesaw did, she’d understand...  
  
  



	23. Chapter 15: Don’t Stop Me Now

### Chapter 15: Don’t Stop Me Now

  
  
I was stalking the streets of Hamilton Heights. I was far from alone, Aegis within arm’s reach to my right, Vista to my left. Kid Win a dozen feet above, providing aerial support, Clockblocker holding the rear. Miss Militia signalled the all clear from a nearby rooftop and Armsmaster did the same for the street on the opposite side. My armband beeped with the all clear from the streets one over in both directions, Prism and the rest of the NYC Protectorate clearing them. Every street was being combed as a ring around the area tightened. Over a hundred heroes and about half as many villains were tightening the noose.  
  
The villains had been given the north side to close in from. The Teeth, the Elite, and Accord’s Ambassadors all working in groups to clear streets for signs of the Nine. There was an air of tension around, no one wanted to be the cape who stumbled onto her lair and was grabbed, but at the same time everyone wanted to be the one to put her down. We moved up from 138th to 139th, taking the Amsterdam Ave side. I had heard that past the 120s it was supposed to be rougher neighborhoods, but honestly it looked normal to me. Hell, most of the windows weren’t even barred, so I’d go so far as to call it a nice area.  
  
Inspecting each street took time. Some of the heroes had tinkertech scanners that could help speed up the search, but by and large it meant going to each building, asking for permission to search, doing a quick look around for anything unusual, and then heading back out. Most of the residents were less than pleased to have capes stomp through their apartment blocks or brownstones, reluctantly letting us in and eying us carefully the whole time. A few flat out refused, at which point we had to wait while someone with a scanner came over to clear it from outside. In theory if the scanner failed to clear we had to search them anyway, but luckily that hadn’t happened to our group so far. Reportedly another group had an incident with cats being thrown at them from a hoarder who had somehow set off the alarms on one of the scanners. We hadn’t gotten full details, but it sounded a lot like how I imagined New York. I wondered if the hoarder had picked up some Tinkertech at one point among her stash or if that biohazard it caused was what caused the alarm.  
  
We knocked on another set of doors, a middle aged black woman warily greeting us and letting us step inside once we made it clear we were looking for the Nine. No, we don’t think the Nine are in this building. Yes, you can refuse, but we’re not responsible if she’s eating your neighbor at the moment and then decides to visit you. No, we aren’t going to touch anything. Yes, thank you for letting us in.  
  
It was tedious work, boring to the point of making many of our capes let their guard down. It would take hours to completely sweep the area. And all apparently based on a dubious phone call made from a payphone. I had almost balked at the resources being thrown at the phone caller's report until Armsmaster had informed me that Protectorate Thinkers had ruled the report probably genuine and of great importance. Apparently listening to the phone call made everything go from a charred ash tree to a shoot out with the Sundance Kid. I had been informed that was a significant improvement in outcomes. Honestly, I didn’t know how being a Thinker worked, but it seemed to be indistinguishable from oracles bones.  
  
We moved on to the next building, this one a street level business with apartments above. Clockblocker had started talking at some point during my musings.  
  
“All I’m saying is won’t she see us coming from a mile away like this? Their entire thing is avoiding getting caught.”  
  
Kid Win shrugged, no longer airborne as we were confined to the tight halls of fading paint that didn’t quite need a touch-up yet. “I think the idea is that even if she does see us coming, she can’t do anything about it. We can’t be reckless, fighting a Tinker in her lab would be really bad.”  
  
Clockblocker gave Kid a friendly nudge, “Is it? I’ve seen your lab and I’m pretty sure you’d have a hard time finding just about anything in those giant piles of garbage.”  
  
Kid Win snorted, “At least I have a back-up plan beyond freezing myself and hoping she’s gone when you unfreeze.”  
  
Clockblocker held up a finger, “It’s a perfectly respectable strategy! I’m fragile. Delicate even. I need to be handled by a woman with taste, not one who wants to literally taste me.”  
  
Vista looked over, turning her head so her good eye was able to glance to Clockblocker, “Oh please, the Siberian barely even looked at you.”  
  
Clockblocker nodded, “And good thing too! I don’t think I could pull off the eyepatch look. It disrupts my delicate symmetry too much.”  
  
Vista rolled her eye, the other covered by the green eyepatch she now sported, but had a small smile underneath. Aegis gave Clock a warning look, but Vista brushed Aegis off.  
  
Aegis grumbled light-heartedly, “Everything disrupts your delicate symmetry Clock, especially monitor duty.”  
  
Kid Win contributed, “And filing reports.”  
  
Vista added, “And attending mandatory training sessions.”  
  
Clock threw his hands up, “All indoors! My complexion needs sunlight to keep it’s lovely rosy color. I can hardly get sun with my mask on, cooped up inside.”  
  
Kid Win turned slightly as we ascended a staircase, “The last time you had a break you spent the entire time playing Civilization in an unlit room.”  
  
Clockblocker held his hands up defensively, “To be fair, they are currently under a lawsuit for possible Master effects. I swear that thing is unnaturally addictive.”  
  
Aegis chuckled, “Somehow I doubt there’s a software Tinker or Master out there manipulating the world with addictive computer games.”  
  
Vista raised a finger, “Well there was that incident with the Master using fansubs to manipulate people…”  
  
Aegis nodded sagely, “Oh right, that guy who was like Valefor but with text.”  
  
Kid Win laughed, “Good thing he was so out of shape that all it took was a few angry parents to arrest him.”  
  
Vista spoke, “And the fact that the worst thing he was doing was getting people to sub his favorite series more and occasionally send him Aleph-Japan films and figurines.”  
  
There was simultaneous nodding. It was widely agreed upon that Fansubber could’ve been a much worse villain if he had aspirations like Valefor. He still had two years left on his minimum security sentence, having been deemed mostly a threat to himself and little else. I wondered if he’d join the Protectorate, that kind of power would be a bit of a problem PR wise but it was certainly powerful. All he would have to do is graffiti the biggest building with “Don’t do crime” and most of the city would be crimeless for the next twelve hours.  
  
We finished clearing the building, heading out with a few of the residents watching us from windows or cracked doors. I couldn’t blame them. Capes had been larger than life to me when I was still unpowered. They didn’t know that in the end we were just like them, still stuck with problems that seemed impossible. Just bigger and scarier versions of the same responsibilities that everyone else had. Also occasionally non-consensual brain surgery from villains. I shuddered a little. Ok, maybe not exactly the same.  
  
All of our armbands beeped in tandem and Dragon’s voice spoke, “Bonesaw located at Cohen’s Fashion Optical on the corner of 144th and Broadway. All combatants requested immediately.”  
  
We looked to each other and there was a quick nod of consensus. Kid Win grabbed Clockblocker up onto his board, Aegis picked up Vista and the four of them flew off directly using Vista’s warping to make it even faster. I took the ground route. Thanks to New York’s grid system it wasn’t any faster for me to navigate leaping roofs when I usually could just make a straight run. So I pushed off the street and worked my way into a full on sprint. I could clear blocks in mere seconds at these speeds, though my turning certainly suffered and I had to really hope the ground no one jumped in front of me suddenly.  
  
I saw the Wards out of the corner of my eye, slightly ahead of me as they took the direct route. We’d reach the corner at roughly the same time, which was good enough for me. We were only eight blocks from the call in and that meant less than a minute at the speeds we could respond at. As I flew past 142nd a large white blur in the distance started to take up more and more of the street. I skidded to a stop, asphalt flying up as I braked hard. The PRT would be thrilled with the repaving cost, I was sure.  
  
Ahead of me I saw Dragon’s mech spraying the undulating mass with flames, her mech steadily backing up. It looked like a crowd of white suits once I got my bearings. The Wards landed behind me, following my lead and forming up behind me. I saw other heroes starting to arrive at the scene. A speedster in purple was dashing in and out of the crowd before disappearing during one of his journeys into the crowd and not returning.  
  
Our armbands buzzed again, “Warning, the white suits appear to be hostile Tinkertech. They are capable of capturing people as a means of replication. They exhibit Brute 4 classifications.”  
  
Dragon’s mech was backing up, but seemed to be getting overwhelmed. One of the suits swung a giant fist that her mech caught, but another quickly tried to dogpile her. I watched as I spoke.  
  
“We need to get to Dragon. Vista, Clock, disable as many as you can. Aegis, Kid, establish a line of defense and hold them until we can get more back-up.”  
  
Behind me there was a series of flashes and sparkles of light, they transformed into their full costumes in sync. _Did they practice that?_  
  
Due to travel time it would take about five to eight minutes for the bulk of our forces to be present. Every second we delayed was a second where another hero would arrive, our side just a little stronger. It was like the opposite of Leviathan, we weren’t fighting a losing battle but one where each second we held was a rally, a victory.  
  
There was a murmur of assent and we moved. I dashed forward, pulling my blade free as I engaged. The white suits were taller than they had looked from a block away, towering eight to ten feet in height and looking oddly ripped with muscle. They had no head, no hands, but were just animated fabric, stylistically a business suit that had a few odd dashes of style thrown in. A small face sat in the center, no bigger than my palm, staring into space unnervingly. As I approached some of the suits took interest in me, lumbering forward to strike at me. I dashed through their blows with ease, slashing out with my blade and tearing the fabric apart.  
  
A few cuts to one and it burst into a cloud of fibers, a curled up person inside falling out to the ground. They were stark naked and looked unconscious. _What the...they’re all people? So Bonesaw has been capturing people. She puts them in these life fiber constructs and they act as the power source, kindof like how the Wards and I do._  
  
I hit the button on my armband, “The white suits have people inside, they’re still alive!”  
  
The armband took a few moments before it spoke, Dragon’s voice, “We have intel that the captured people are still alive inside the suits. Proceed with caution when engaging.”  
  
Aegis crashed into the middle of the suits, quickly growing as he was thrown between them with brutal smacks. Kid Win was replicating his turrets in the sky above, raining increasing amounts of hard light fire down upon the suits. The turrets started to link as he deployed them, walls of hard light connecting them and sectioning off the street. Vista was weaving in and out of the suits, trying her hand at hitting them. It didn’t seem to be working too well, the suits hit back, forcing her to warp space rapidly as she glided between blows without dealing any real damage. She unhooked an orb from her belt and tossed it into the fray, a bubble of containment foam springing out and grabbing two of the suits in it. They struggled, but the foam held them fast. Clockblocker was doing his best, tagging them as fast as he could. He was in a way the most and least effective. He could disable them faster than anyone, but it was a temporary measure.  
  
I cut down another suit when I saw Dragon’s mech shudder and shatter, a torrent of glass spears pummeling it into the asphalt mercilessly. The roar of a motorbike came up behind me and a blue blur flashed past. Armsmaster leaped off his bike as it rammed into one of the suits, bowling it over while he spun his halberd out and engaged. Glass rained down for where Armsmaster would've been, Shatterbird already punishing less mobile capes.  
  
He shouted to me, “Go! Get Shatterbird, we have this!”  
  
I nodded and bent my knees, leaping into the sky with as much force as I could muster, aiming straight for Shatterbird. The torrent of glass shifted and knocked into me, forcing me back down. Glass cut into my skin, digging into my chest, legs and arms. I was tough enough that it didn’t pierce very deep, but the constant barrage was death by a thousand cuts. Fortunately, cuts were good for me.  
  
I winced through the stinging pain, not that bad comparatively, and pushed out blood. A geyser erupted from me as I pushed back against the glass storm, fighting Shatterbird for control of the skies. Glass would shift and rain from a new direction and a gush of blood would rush to meet it, knocking the glass off course. I felt some of the glass getting through my counter strikes, she was using smaller pieces it felt like. Thin edges, smooth, very little surface area for my blood to push against.  
  
Frowning I tried a new tactic, hitting her glass sideways, my blood swinging perpendicular to her torrents to hit them far off course. She couldn’t turn the slivers in two directions at once, so every time she guessed wrong I deprived her of a strike. Everytime I guessed wrong glass made it through and pelted me little by little. I pushed off the ground again, streams of blood filling the sky around me as I tried to shoot down every attempt to halt my flight.  
  
Shatterbird flew herself out of my way, glass wings holding her arms, glass mask resembling a bird's beak. She was far more mobile in the air than I was. I had to launch off the ground, I could change my trajectory a bit using my blood, but it wasn’t fine enough to battle a flier of her level. On the other hand, I was winning the Shaker war. She had better control, I could keep pushing blood out. Given time, I could push out her control as I overwhelmed her with sheer force.  
  
Below me the battle with the suits raged. I saw Armsmaster spinning his halberds as he effortlessly ducked and dodged between the blows of three different suits. Dragon’s mech was smoldering and seemed to have been ruined, I hoped she was okay. The suit exploded in a gush of containment foam, foaming half a dozen suits around it. Other capes had engaged by now, I spotted Prism’s copies double teaming with Ursa and taking on their fair share. Astrologer, Miss Militia, and two other blasters were bombarding the back lines. The prismatic shielder from before and Vex were helping Kid Win establish his containment barrier, propping up areas while he secured them. Spree had unleashed his clones from the opposite side of the street, the endless torrent crashing against the suits and forcing a stalemate on that front.  
  
Burnscar had appeared, lobbing a fireball at Miss Militia, missing, and then teleporting right besides her. Miss Militia anticipated the tactic, sniper rifle morphing into a shotgun as she fired straight into Burnscar’s chest. Burnscar staggered back as she swung wildly and tried to grapple Miss Militia. The heroine spun with the grapple, shotgun morphing into a combat knife as she jabbed repeatedly for Burnscar’s face in a brutal display. Burnscar blasted them both with fire and teleported out, leaving Miss Militia smoldering as Astrologer tended to her.  
  
Shatterbird evaded another attempt to grab her out of the sky, simply flying between my streams of blood and my own reach. I needed to change it up somehow, this wasn’t working. _ If only I could fly._ I felt a rumbling in Junketsu at the thought and turned my mind inward. Junketsu had been fairly quiet since I had forced my will on it, this was practically a shout in comparison to the normal grumbling. I got the sense from it of a jet, the sensation of flight. I pushed on that sensation, feeding focus and willpower to it, trying to direct it. My kamui morphed around me, the shoulders warping and the skirt extending out around my legs. The top of the uniform stretched out into red and black wings.  
  
I looked down at the reshaped Kamui as I started to hover above the ground.  
  
“Huh. So you still have some secrets? Hmph.” I muttered, taking off.  
  
The sky parted effortlessly for me as I zipped for Shatterbird. She darted out of my way, surprise clear behind the prismatic glass mask at my new mobility. Streams of blood cocooned around us, interfering with her glass. She ducked under the swing of my blade, swinging her arm out for my gut, the glass shooting off it to try and spear me. I rolled in the air, narrowly avoiding the hit as I tried to bring my blade down on her again. She formed a layered shield of glass before my blade, it cracked through the first few layers but was stopped.  
  
The glass formed around the top of the blade and suddenly it was stuck in a big block of glass. I tried to jimmy it loose, but Shatterbird started throwing sloppy haymakers for my head while it was stuck. I let go of the blade for a moment, grabbing her by the glass armor of her shoulder and punching back. She punched, her glass fist crashing and cracking into my face. I punched back, my fist shattering her helmet and breaking her nose. We threw a few blows back and forth, mine were always stronger and I was wearing her down. She couldn’t disengage or I’d have the upper hand, but I was stronger, more durable. My blood was keeping her from bringing the full fury of her glass down upon me.  
  
She opened her mouth to scream and I threw a quick jab, shattering some of her teeth and stopping her. No, she couldn’t be allowed to wreck New York and grab the glass of an entire city. That would turn the tables. I was lucky Jack had wanted to break his normal pattern and hadn’t let her start with that, it would’ve made her substantially stronger. She staggered and I took the chance to bring my fist down on her from above. She had no escape this time, there were dozens of capes below keeping her allies from helping her.  
  
Her costume turned outward and I felt glass pushing into my body, cutting and pushing in. She had given up her armor to try and take me down first, the glass squirming as it dug into my flesh. I grit my teeth as the pain flared and took us both into a dive straight down at full acceleration. The glass pushed in, trying to get to my organs, anything it could find to kill me. I remembered that Shatterbird had killed thousands, but that she also wasn’t a flier without her glass. She might be a Brute given what Bonesaw had done, but I knew she couldn’t match me. We crashed into the pavement at full speed, in Shatterbird’s case it was headfirst.  
  
I plowed a small crater into the street. I could feel my flesh trying to knit back together and push the glass out, but it had speared deep and there were a lot of cuts to heal. A shadow loomed over me and I saw Aegis looking with concern.  
  
“You okay Ichor?”  
  
I nodded as I took a moment, “Yeah. Shatterbird is probably dead.”  
  
Aegis straightened up and looked over for a moment. He bent back over me and nodded.  
  
“Yeah...she is. We’re pushing them back, but Siberian and Crawler stalled our progress. Not all of our weapons seem to work on the suits either. I think the bosses are still trying to figure out the pattern for what works.”  
  
I saw the glass chunk holding my sword plummet to earth with a crash as glass rained down around us, Shatterbird’s control lost. _Well that confirms it. _ I pointed to my sword as it lay a few dozen feet away.  
  
“Take it, it can cut through them.” I said as I pulled myself off the ruined street, dusting myself off.  
  
Aegis hesitated and I cut him off, “Take it. You need it if you’re going to free those people.”  
  
Our armbands beeped in unison and we paused as the message came through.  
  
“Suits now upgraded to Trump 5. Suits display the power of any captured capes.” Dragon’s voice warned us.  
  
We looked to each other. Absorbing civilians was bad enough, there were already at least a hundred of the damn things fighting us. Getting the powers of captured capes was a whole different matter. It meant anyone we lost to them would be turned against us, essentially doubling the loss. Hell, if they got someone like Eidolon or Narwhal somehow…  
  
Aegis paused and I gestured annoyedly at him to go get the sword. He scurried off, all fourteen feet of him, and went to retrieve it. It was awkwardly small in his hands but we needed to cut their numbers down, especially if they could grab capes. _ Actually, hold that thought, we should be focusing on captured capes._  
  
I shouted over the din, “Aegis! Get the sword to Vista, target the cape suits!”  
  
He gave me a salute and trudged off through the fray. I couldn’t see Vista, but presumably he had an idea where she was as he made his way through the battle lines. The lines had been established pretty well in the few minutes since our arrival. Kid Win’s barriers had worked to contain the area, giving us a fallback ground. The turrets on top firing whenever our lines were pushed back. Clockblocker had frozen large numbers of suits, but they’d unfreeze randomly which was playing havoc with our coordination.  
  
Heroes had fallen into battle lines, capes with Brute ratings in the front were trading blows with the suits. Capes with powers that seemed to work to break their hold on their captives were right behind the Brutes, taking down restrained suits methodically. I spotted Flechette carefully executing captured suits with her power. I was impressed at how well the capes had organized, which seemed to be due to Armsmaster’s periodic shouting to direct people.  
  
A white suit suddenly crashed into the battle line from practically nowhere. It grabbed a cape from the secondary line who screamed and disappeared a moment later. I ran over to Armsmaster and shouted at him,  
  
“Armsmaster!”  
  
He swung the halberd, grazing a suit that reached for him and a large man with a criss-cross of facial scars took his place.  
  
“What?” He asked tersely.  
  
I pointed to the suits, “How many capes have we lost?”  
  
He tapped a button on the armband, “Casualty report.”  
  
The armband listed off, “Thirteen casualties, seven injured.”  
  
He looked to me as I sucked in a breath and stared him down, “So if they can use powers, why are we only seeing the one mover suit?”  
  
Armsmaster stood almost still momentarily in immediate realization and he spun on his feet, “Shit.” he tapped the armband and snarled into it, “Everyone fall back and form ranks! Expect a surprise attack.”  
  
At that moment Crawler burst out of the street in the middle of us. Riding his back were several suits, one of which immediately started blasting out a blue freeze ray from its hands at the surprised capes. The turrets started to autofire on him, their fire absorbed harmlessly by his ugly, massive form. Weld was trying to tackle Crawler head on with Gully but were getting thrown back as quickly as they could advance. With a crash Alexandria crashed into Crawler and started carrying him upwards as the suits on his back lept off and joined the fray.  
  
A swirling purple haze swept across the field, seeming to stun the suits but not the heroes. I saw Myriddin as the source, his staff waving in the air as he directed his magic. Eidolon appeared in the sky, a crush of gravity pinning the stunned suits down to the ground, save one. One stood with perfect invulnerability and walked through the effect unharmed. A black and white hand tore out and grabbed a different suit and held it. The other suit was suddenly unaffected as well and started to fly for Eidolon, the Siberian hanging off it with one hand.  
  
Our lines were splintered even as the Triumvirate tried to wrangle the surprise attack. The suits that had been previously in a stalemate surged forward. Burnscar was teleporting between growing fires, acting as a forward scout to disrupt attempts to pull back together. There were shouts as teams got separated, some of them getting grabbed and disappearing into the throng of suits trying to surge and fill the streets. A hand tapped my shoulder.  
  
I spun around to see a young teenager looking at me. She was pretty, though wearing an odd mix of street clothes and costume parts. She held out a half of the scissor blade I had seen Bonesaw use.  
  
“Hey, so I figured you could use this? Shit looks pretty bad right now….uh, good luck, you can do it? I'll talk to you later maybe! Catch!”  
  
She chucked the scissor blade at me and-_Shit, sword!_ I caught the blade that had flown out at me from nowhere. _Why am I holding one of Bonesaw’s weird swords? Where did this even come from?_ I looked around rapidly, trying to figure out what had happened. I was trying to take stock of the fighting when suddenly the blade had appeared in my hands. I had seen Bonesaw use it, it cut through life fibers like the blade I had lent to Vista. I turned it over in my hand, suspicious. It was odd, but right now I’d have to take what I got and if that was a magic teleporting sword perfectly suited for my enemies, so be it.  
  
I dived into fragmented lines, seeing Aegis acting as a bulwark against four suits that were trying to push through. His bulk made it impossible for them to rush by him, but at the same time he was getting hit repeatedly, unable to dodge lest they break past him. I weaved past a suit, blade swinging out to cut it across the front. The fabric unravelled as the suit disintegrated. After that it was simple, the suits were no match for my speed and a single solid cut from my scissor blade destroyed them. The four that had bothered Aegis were disposed of and I moved on. I saw that Vista and Kid Win had held part of the line, Vista stretching her costume and space to make ridiculous long shot cuts that were impossible to predict, Kid Win keeping the suits on the backfoot with his laser fire. Armsmaster and Prism seemed to be doing well too, they had rallied a group of capes together that were holding slowly re-establishing the lines. Prism was impossible to keep down, her clones too versatile, and Armsmaster too skilled to let the center of their formation fall apart. It was encouraging, even without my help, we were recovering from the surprise attack. Eidolon and Myriddin seemed to be handling the powered suits. Alexandria had been gone so long that I was beginning to wonder if she hadn’t thrown Crawler into the sun.  
  
Our tentative lines balked at a sudden onrush of suits. The suits crashed against the defenders, swinging wildly before disintegrating a few moments later, only for more to fill the gap behind them. _ That looks like Spree’s power. _The sheer number of suits that were pushing forward were overwhelming us. I swung my blade out, cutting them down as quickly as I could, but our defenders were being pushed back, step by step. We needed someone to get to the Spree suit and take it down, but anyone strong enough to try to brave the wave of suits was needed to keep them contained. _What we need is to get the Butcher to teleport in and do it, she’d know how to spot Spree best and she’s a mobile Brute._  
  
Another suit appeared, this one manipulating the earth underneath it, kneading it into projectiles that then flew at capes. I thought one of the Elite had a cape like that maybe. It seemed most of the captured capes were villains. Now that I thought about it, whose idea had it been to let the villains work on the opposite alone without us? They didn’t have the same coordination we had, it was three rival gangs trying to work together instead of a bunch of allies. Were the lines even holding on the villain side? We had practically no communication with them beyond the system wide messages sent out on the armbands.  
  
I hit the button on my armband, raising it to my mouth to speak while my right hand kept the blade swinging at the oncoming suits.  
  
“I need to speak to Prism directly, priority message.”  
  
The armband replied pleasantly, “One moment.”  
  
Prism’s voice cracked through the speaker, “Ichor? What is it?”  
  
My blade lashed out, cutting two more Spree clones down, “We need to get in contact with the Butcher, she needs to take down the suit that has Spree.”  
  
Prism took a moment to reply, in the same melee that I was, “Can’t, she refused an armband.”  
  
I cursed, “Can we get to Hemorrhagia to pass it on?”  
  
Prism hesitated, “Maybe. I can try, only team leaders can contact the villains.”  
  
Another suit fell by my hand, “Whose stupid idea was that? We need to coordinate.”  
  
Prism replied in an unamused tone, “Heathrow’s. We can go over that later. I’ll try to reach one of the Teeth.”  
  
The line cut dead as Prism ended the call. It was abrupt, but considering she was probably just as busy as I was, it was certainly understandable. Heathrow. If I had to guess, he had been the one to order the separation entirely. As for why, that was a good question. Possibly a lack of trust of the villains, which wasn’t entirely unwarranted. Also possibly just a PR move, making it a hero victory instead of a joint effort. It didn’t really matter, all I knew at the moment was that we needed to work together instead of apart. I wondered why the Butcher had refused an armband, but then I thought back to my own experiences. I had hit the development of my uniforms for the Wards knowing the PRT would have never let the idea pass. Maybe it was the same for the villains, they knew they wouldn’t get fair treatment so they didn’t put any faith into working with heroes.  
  
It painted a grim picture, especially when villains outnumbered heroes 2-to-1 on a national scale. We needed to work with them to keep the true threats like the Endbringers and the Nine in line, but at the same time none of us trusted each other. Even the Protectorate wasn’t as united as it liked to seem. One had to only look at our battle lines to see that. Beyond a few exceptions it was mostly teams sticking with their own, forming pockets of familiarity that turned into a rough line. There was a certain lack of unity at the larger level. Dragon was the best link and coordinator between us all and she was from the Guild, she wasn’t even Protectorate. If she decided to not help one day, our coordination would collapse.  
  
The scissor blade cut through more of the suits, one wasn’t a clone and dropped a person. One of the support capes that sheltered behind me darted out, her hands reaching out to grab them and pull them back into our safe zone. Presumably headed to wherever our medical center at the moment was. It was just so frustrating. I kept seeing petty power plays pop up, preventing us from succeeding. Heathrow and the Butcher both hindering coordination out of mistrust for the other. Bullies, really, when I thought about it. The problem was we couldn’t coordinate and we couldn’t coordinate because the people in power weren’t trustworthy. What we needed was leaders like Legend had been, people who could rally others by purity of will and personality.  
  
Someone tapped me gingerly on the shoulder. I could feel the anxiety radiating off them. A heavily muscled woman dressed in a martial arts uniform gestured to me. I raised an eyebrow, cocking my head to the side.  
  
She spoke with a surprisingly low voice, “Command wants you, told me to switch out with you.”  
  
I glanced at her, figuring her powers were probably related to the costume. She didn’t seem to have a way to disable the non-Spree suits, but hopefully one of the support capes could take over that aspect.  
  
“Alright.” I pointed to the surge of suits as I cut a suit down effortlessly, “Most are Spree-type clones, but some aren’t. Not sure which powers work on them, be careful.”  
  
She nodded, eying the fight anxiously, “Thanks.”  
  
I gave her a pat on the shoulder as we switched off. I broke into a run back towards where the command post should’ve been setup. I hadn’t actually been to it, but it had been in the briefing. The City College of New York had their main building commandeered for the purposes of housing our command and triage center. Large rooms, a good view of the surrounding area, several escape routes made it an ideal spot. A small park sat behind it, an open green lawn in front. The college had an old look, the buildings made of uneven stone, or at least made to look that way. I wasn’t entirely sure which it was.  
  
As I ran into the entrance I saw people bustling back and forth. PRT troops were guarding the doors, separating for me as I came in, clad in blood and Junketsu alike. I supposed they didn’t need to check my ID with that kind of proof. Capes were shuffling in a hurried walk between rooms. I saw a large set of doors that clearly led to the triage center, marked with a makeshift red cross. Critical cases treated on the spot, everyone else flown out to one of the many hospitals in the city for any non-immediate care. I stood in the entrance awkwardly. I had been told to show up, not who wanted me or where to go.  
  
After a few seconds of standing, I looked to one of the PRT troops.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
He turned to look at me, “Uh, yes?”  
  
I gestured vaguely, “I was told to come here, but not who to report to or where.”  
  
He paused and then nodded a bit too quickly, “Oh, right. I’ll let command know you’re here then.”  
  
He went silent, presumably speaking to command behind the full visor he wore. Everything was still on M/S protocols most likely, we had never caught that Stranger after all. Though if that were the case, they should’ve questioned me on arrival. I shrugged to myself, I didn’t know if we actually were on M/S precautions still. I was a bit too busy to go investigating every possible security lapse, I needed to get back out as soon as I could.  
  
A cape clade in black and gold came out of a door, beelining for me. She was a bit on the taller side, her costume a cross between long coat and a dress, embroidered with fancy gold patterns. It definitely looked like an outfit that wasn’t made with combat in mind. Then again, neither did my outfit.  
  
The woman extended her hand early, walking forward with it outstretched, “Ichor, you got here fast! I’m Spire. Walk with me?”  
  
I took her hand, giving it a shake as I walked beside her back towards the doors she had come out of, “So, why’d you call me out here?”  
  
Spire spoke as we ascended a set of stairs, “I’m a Tinker, I was brought in to help with the analysis of Panacea’s suit, codenamed Konketsu. Panketsu and Byouketsu were vetoed for the sake of good taste and Panacea’s vote for ‘piece of shit’ didn’t fit the naming criteria. Sinketsu was a close second, what with layered meanings, but a last minute point that the ‘sin’ portion could be interpreted in the latin root as sinful lost it a few swing votes. The team was very invested in the vote.”  
  
I just sortof nodded along to that.  
  
Spire kept speaking, her mouth never stopping as we headed down a hallway on the second floor. “Konketsu essentially came from half-blood, since the creation is half your technology, half Bonesaw’s. Also half Panacea, surface area-wise, and half not, but don’t tell her that part! Etymology aside! Your referring Parian in was a huge help in extracting the kamui from Panacea. Between her and Scapegoat we were able to fully separate the kamui with minimal issue. Now Panacea will still be in M/S for some time, but we’ve been able to do some preliminary analysis on the suit with Parian consulting.”  
  
We got to the silver doorway of what looked like a chemistry lab. Spire pushed the door open and held it, gesturing for me to go inside.  
  
“So, ready for an experiment?” She asked excitedly.  
  
  



	24. Chapter 16: The Girl Can’t Help It

### Chapter 16: The Girl Can’t Help It

  
  
“An experiment?” I asked slowly.  
  
Spire nodded a bit too fast.  
  
I gesticulated, “What is it?”  
  
She fired off her response, “Well! We looked at the structure of the kamui and it’s very fascinating. Parasitic organism, draws energy from the host, seems to require a blood connection, though the amount of blood needed seems to vary greatly. The fibers also seem to have a minor Master effect in that they definitely interact with neural structure, but we’ve had limited data on that front.”  
  
_I did see the Master effect when Parian and I were trying to makes the Wards uniforms..._  
  
“All stuff you know of course! But this outfit appears to use slightly different fiber structure than the data on file from yours. Also significantly different stitching and construction methods. We theorized that since the original Tinker was killed early on that yours might be less functional than Konketsu, given Bonesaw’s vast experience in bio-Tinkering. Now, given the suspected Master effect, we have to be cautious but the idea is to have you try Konketsu on and see if it increases your abilities and if the Master effect is too dangerous. Got it?”  
  
I held my hand up, “Okay, yeah. But how do you expect to neutralize me if the Master effect is stronger than you think?”  
  
Spire pointed to her lab assistants who held large containment foam sprayers.  
  
“Containment foam laced with a special fabric stiffener I made myself. We have every reason to think it’ll work to contain you quite well! Don’t worry, we’d never let the villains know you’re weak to laundry products.” She ended with a wink and an enthusiastic grin. Tinkers.  
  
My eye twitched slightly. _F_abric stiffener? Really? I’m weak to a fucking laundry aisle at the grocery store. Well at least no one else knows. If Dennis found out I would never live it down. If Dennis and Vista both found out the prank war escalation might be unstoppable.  
  
I shrugged, “If you think it’s worth pulling me off the fight for, sure.”  
  
Spire clapped her hands giddily, “I think it could give you an edge, which everyone needs when dealing with the Nine!”  
  
She wasn’t wrong. She went over to a table in the center of the lab and I followed. The kamui, Konketsu, was pinned to the table with a series of needles and covered by a small forcefield. They really hadn’t taken any risks in handling it. Fair, since it was a creation of Bonesaw. I would’ve been more tentative about wearing it if I hadn’t broken out from Bonesaw’s restraints a few days back. It gave me a weird sort of confidence I could handle this. I wanted to make Bonesaw suffer for what she had done. I had twisted that internal nausea and disgust outward into righteous fury.  
  
Spire grabbed a remote and started backing up, “Okay, so we’ll be waaaay back here and you just put Konketsu on!”  
  
I frowned a bit, “Are you sure we don’t need a Brute to oversee this?”  
  
Spire waved her hand dismissively, “No, no, it’ll be fine! Trust me, I’m a Tinker and you’re in my lab. Couldn’t be more secure!”  
  
I looked to the table and looked back, “Can I get a little privacy for changing?”  
  
The Tinker shook her head, “Can’t foam you down if we can’t see you! Charles, close your god forsaken eyes! There you go, that better?”  
  
I assumed Charles was the only guy on the team and probably who I’d kill first if I went berserk as soon as I put the suit on, being blinded and all. He had certainly drawn the short straw here. I gave a heavy sigh, making my displeasure at the situation clear. Oh sure, it was worth giving it a shot, but that didn’t mean I had to like stripping down while a bunch of nervous lab techs and Tinkers pointed foam sprayers at me.  
  
I took Junketsu off, facing away from as many of the onlookers as possible. I heard a click and the forcefield flickered off. A moment later the pins holding Konketsu in place lifted up and released the suit. I watched it for a second and started to reach out for it. Konketsu jumped off the table and at my face. I stumbled back a half step, clawing at it, trying to rip it off as the kamui tried to wrap around me.  
  
“The fuck!” I shouted as the kamui fought for purchase, my fingers pulling the fringes of cloth back wherever they tried. I heard foam sprayers click, not firing but clearly being readied.  
  
A voice shouted back, “I need blood!”  
  
I paused and looked at the kamui, holding it half off me as it also paused, frozen mid-grapple.  
  
“Did you-” The kamui started.  
  
“-just talk?” I finished.  
  
Konketsu let go of me, hanging from my hands at arm’s length. The decorative coloration on the chest that resembled eyes started to move expressively, looking surprised. We stood at a standstill for a few seconds before a shout from Spire interrupted my thoughts.  
  
“Are you communicating telepathically?”  
  
I groaned, “No! I was just surprised. I could’ve sworn it spoke.”  
  
Konketsu looked at me, “I did. I didn’t think anyone could hear me!”  
  
I stumbled over my words, “What about Panacea? The girl who was wearing you.”  
  
The kamui squinted its eyes, “She almost died trying to tear me off. I’m not sure if she could hear me and was just panicking or if she was deaf to me like everyone else.”  
  
I held the kamui out and shook it a little, “You can talk.”  
  
Konketsu sighed somehow, “Yes. I don’t know why you’re the only one that can hear me though. I could really use some blood.”  
  
Spire shouted across the room, “Ichor, talk us through what’s happening.”  
  
I raised my voice slightly, projecting, “Konketsu is talking to me. He? Needed blood, but then he realized I could hear him. Apparently he’s been trying to talk, but it sounds like no one heard him. I’m going to give him some blood.”  
  
I didn’t actually have any open cuts at the moment, my regeneration had made it so shallow wounds closed quickly enough and I hadn’t bothered to keep any open after I left the fight. I eyed the kamui carefully. It, or he since it sounded kindof deep, definitely looked alive. The eyes were animated, a mixture of tired and worried.  
  
I clicked my tongue, “If I put you on, are you going to try and control me?”  
  
Konketsu looked offended, “Why would I do that? No, I just need some blood to recharge...the removal was not a pleasant process.”  
  
I narrated to the techies, “I’m going to put on Konketsu, he said he’s not going to try anything.”  
  
Kamui in hand, I pulled it over my head, sliding my arms through the familiar feeling fabric of life fibers and settling into place. I straightened the outfit out and looked for the silver clasps that seemed to be the start mechanism for this kamui. Three clasps, indicating three power levels? Or maybe all three were needed to start it. I experimented, only flipping one clasp and felt the almost unnoticeable sensation of a needling pricking my skin.  
  
Konketsu let out a large sigh, sounding relieved. A questioning voice came from my chest, which was disconcerting.  
  
“Thank you. May I ask why you didn’t engage all three?”  
  
I looked down, bending my neck at an uncomfortable angle. I wasn’t overly used to talking to something I couldn’t see face to face, it felt like I was missing part of the conversation.  
  
“Being careful. I didn’t know if one was enough or what all three did. The only other kamui we have only uses one needle.”  
  
Konketsu hummed thoughtfully, “Really? Well, I don’t know much more myself. My only memories are of after my creation. I know that using all three needles will transform me, giving you access to my power, but I know not why I have three instead of one.”  
  
I continued my narration, “He’s telling me that using all three of these little clasps activates him, but he doesn’t know much.” I shifted my focus back to him, “Can you tell me what you do remember?”  
  
Konketsu gave an affirmative grunt, “Of course. Who are all these people watching us though? Are you in trouble?”  
  
I shook my head, “No, nothing like that. We didn’t know if you’d be friendly, so we had some precautions in case you were evil like Bonesaw.”  
  
The kamui physically shuddered, making my body feel like it had vibrated suddenly, “Bonesaw, the girl who made me, correct? No...she made me, but I did not know her long. Soon after I awoke she sewed me onto Panacea. I was confused, being stitched into her flesh was distressing. I could sense her fear and disgust, her anger and anguish with me.”  
  
I ground my teeth. Bonesaw hadn’t just managed to fuck up the living, she made new life and specifically fucked it up as soon as it came into awareness. Every minute made that monster need to die even more. _Poor Konketsu. Not even in this world for a week and being subjected to the likes of Bonesaw. Just a tool for her I bet. Just like everyone is to the Nine._  
  
“I’m sorry Konketsu. No one should have to deal with Bonesaw. Not everyone is like her. In fact, most people aren’t. She’s a criminal, a murderer, and wanted by every hero in the country. Actually…”  
  
Konketsu raised a lapel questioningly and I finished, “Do you want to help me get rid of her?”  
  
Spire yelled again, “Ichor! No bargaining with the sentient Tinkertech without PRT approval! Or at least without including me, I want in on whatever is going on here! Are we going making underhanded deals? I can do tha-Charles I swear to god if you puss out I’m not giving you credit for this semester!”  
  
I raised my hands, “No! We’re not going rogue.” _Yet._ “I’m asking Konketsu if he’d be okay helping me fight Bonesaw. You mentioned he might be stronger than Junketsu.”  
  
Spire calmed down, “Oh! Okay. Forget anything I just said then. What did he say?”  
  
I glanced down, realizing Konketsu had stayed silent. I gave him a small poke.  
  
The kamui roused, “Ah. Sorry. It’s just an odd thought, to consider fighting my own creator. If what you say is true, I was made by a monster. I can only assume my purpose was equally as monstrous then. Forgive me if I’m a bit slow, it’s a difficult revelation.”  
  
I straightened the kamui out sharply, “Listen, nothing about you is monstrous unless you make it that way. Bonesaw fucks up good, normal people every day. Hell, she fucked me up too. Fused me with life fibers as some sortof messed up hybrid. I’ll never be normal, I don’t even know what might change with my body anymore. What matters is what you do. I’m going after her, I’m going to prove messing with me, trying to make me into one of her toys only made my resolve stronger. You can do whatever you want. I can leave you here with Spire and I’m sure she’ll be nice to you. Or you can come with me.”  
  
Konketsu took a moment, repeating quietly, “What I do...?”  
  
Konketsu narrowed his eyes, “You’re right. I can’t choose how I was made, but I can choose what I do with it. Let me help you. I want to prove I’m not one of her monsters.”  
  
I gave him a proud smile, “Sounds copacetic to me. Spire, I’m going to test the other two clasps.”  
  
I flipped the other two clasps with my fingers, feeling the twin needles sink into my skin softly and my power come to the forefront of my senses again as the blood began to flow. I could feel it sink into Konketsu as he transformed. The fibers stretched and warped, [reshaping radically](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/de/3b/ee/de3bee142f16e47f046a6bb4292c8411.png). A firm almost-metal like plate covered my chest. Small pauldrons covered my shoulders and held Konketsu’s eyes, connecting to the long white gloves that stretched down my arms to my hands. The collar went up to the top of my neck, resting just under my chin. A strip of fabric stretched down from the breastplate to between my legs. _Well, there go my hopes for this one being more modest. _My legs covered to mid-thigh with flared, ribbed pants legs.  
  
_At least my chest is covered this time...but geez, do all these suits have to show so much? Yeah I know, I know. Oh well. I’ll just deal with it._  
  
Spire’s raised voice interrupted my thoughts, “Ichor! What’s today’s passcode?”  
  
I recited, “Sierra November Alpha Foxtrot Uniform Nine.”  
  
The number of foam sprayers aimed at me decreased significantly and Spire’s giddiness shot through the roof. She started pulling out a notebook.  
  
“Okay, so we’re going to have a few hours of M/S testing ahead, then we’ll need to play this by the PRT since Konketsu being sapient makes for a whole ‘nother mess of paperwork and possibly lawyers and then after that-”  
  
I held up a hand, “What? You said this could help me now. You didn’t mention hours.”  
  
Konketsu grumbled as Spire responded, “Well yes, but the kamui being sentient, or possibly since it’s hard to confirm due to the limited communication without some non-verbal tests, raises a lot of issues. Now I like building unregistered Tinkertech as much as the next Tinker, but this kind of thing, well, skipping out on regulation on this is the kindof thing that gets you assigned to a Simurgh quarantine zone for life assuming you don’t get jailed first. Sentient tech is a touchy issue.”  
  
I held a finger up, “So what you’re saying is, you’d be in trouble if you let me go. I thought you were up for underhanded deals?”  
  
Spire nodded, bouncing a little, “A lot of trouble. Career ending trouble. Sentient Tinkertech is, well, it’s something the PRT is verrrrry touchy over and there’s a big difference between talking and running into a live combat zone; in fact-”  
  
I looked down to Konketsu, “Konketsu. Would you mind putting the legalities off until later?”  
  
Konketsu replied, “Not at all, but I don’t think they will simply let us leave. I have to warn you-”  
  
A simple choice was presented to me. I could wait hours upon hours to test a kamui that was either the best liar ever while my friends fought some of the most dangerous criminals in the world, or I could leave and no one could stop me if I was fast enough. I could also change back into Junketsu, but frankly having a kamui that didn’t feel like a ravenous animal lurking in the back of my skull was surprisingly nice. I hadn’t realized quite how on edge it had me and the difference was startling. That alone, not to mention Konketsu’s own struggles with his origin, made me want to keep him.  
  
I looked to Spire, “Hey. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for making your job harder.”  
  
Spire nodded slowly, “Okaaaaay, but how does that-”  
  
I didn’t catch the end of the sentence. I grabbed my scissor blade instead and bolted, pushing off the floor and crashing through one of the windows at the end of the room. The window was tall and thin, I had to twist to make sure I made it through without clipping the edges and spinning out of control. A trail of foam shot out behind me as I hit the ground, missing me entirely. _One of her techs must’ve had a fast trigger finger. _Good thing I decided to leave abruptly.  
  
I took to the green, dashing over the lawn in seconds and hitting the street. The wind whipped my hair back and I made my way back to the fight. I knew Spire would have to call it in, but if I could get to the field before the warning got down the line, they wouldn’t risk pulling me out mid fight. The distraction, division of forces in sight of the Nine, all would factor to keep me in play until after the score was settled. I was going to get Bonesaw and I was going to kill her. I hadn’t felt such cold fury since the Protectorate and PRT had betrayed my trust. It hadn’t come all at once after I woke, it had built, slowly. As each minute or hour gave me a slow realization of what she had done. How much she had violated me. How much she had hurt others, how she continued to.  
  
Konketsu interrupted my thoughts, “Ichor, your blood pressure is rising. What’s wrong?”  
  
I spoke as I ran, “I’m angry at Bonesaw. For what she did to me. What she did to you. Life fibers are supposed to be my Dad’s legacy! He was the Tinker that invented them and I was using them to make the world a better place, and then Bonesaw comes along and fucks with it all, starts hurting people with them.”  
  
Konketsu sounded thoughtful, “So in a way I’m a creation of your father?”  
  
I shrugged, peeling past pavement at breakneck speed, “I guess so, in a way. He invented life fibers, what you’re made of. Bonesaw just stole it from him after she killed him.”  
  
Konketsu spoke, somehow clear over the whistling winds, “I see. I must warn you, I’m not at full power.”  
  
I almost stopped in surprise, “What? Why not?”  
  
The Kamui continued, “While you’ve given me more than enough blood, we’re not in sync. I can feel the difference in our wills competing and restricting you from fully accessing my power.”  
  
I kept on, slightly slower as the revelation processed, “What’d you mean difference? We’re both going after Bonesaw.”  
  
Konketsu grunted an agreement, “Yes, but I can feel how you don’t accept me. It’s like you hold me at arm’s reach, still using my power but not allowing yourself to wield it fully. I’m not sure why though...is it because Bonesaw made me?”  
  
We approached the battlefield, the barrier from before had quite a lot of capes behind it. It seemed we had fallen back to it rather than using it as a rest point.  
  
“No, it’s not that. You seem fine. We just met, but you’re a victim here if nothing else.”  
  
Konketsu hummed thoughtfully as we slowed, coming to a stop among a few of the capes that were taking a breather in the back line. Two capes I didn’t recognize were trying to cut metal off a third, who was entirely made of metal. Weld, that was his name. Weld was covered in enough street signs he was basically immobile, one of the other capes was using what looked like an energy blade to try and slowly hack off the worst parts. I stopped next to them and they paused, looking at me expectantly. _Right, new costume._  
  
I spoke quickly, “What’s the situation? I just got back.”  
  
Weld spoke while the other two focused on removing a School Zone sign, “We retreated to the barrier when the villains were overrun, giving the Suits too many powered suits for us to contend with at once. The auto-turrets are keeping the unpowered ones back, but it’s a stalemate. We can’t advance and neither can they. Eidolon and Myriddin are coordinating the efforts to put down the powered suits. The Butcher is still out there, but we don’t know how long she can go without support.”  
  
A high pitched giggle rang out from above us. It was clearly distant, but it carried with the wind easily. A figure with blonde curls stood atop the barrier, the two auto-turrets closest were smouldering.  
  
“Let’s play a game. Jack always liked playing a good game! It’s called twenty answers. It’s like twenty questions, but for each second you don’t give me Panacea I tell you a secret! Let’s start!”  
  
Alexandria careened out of the air towards Bonesaw, who narrowly avoided her with a neat sidestep. I started to run towards her and sideways a bit, I wanted a good angle for my leap up.  
  
Bonesaw called out, “One! Some of you heroes have been very naughty.”  
  
A blaster shot out a barrage of fire, joined by several others. Bonesaw seemed to slide between the bolts, occasionally moving so fast I had trouble tracking her.  
  
A pouty voice called out, “That’s, like, five! And I thought I was the premiere monster maker, but Uncle Bill. Well Uncle Bill told me a few secrets. Like how some of the heroes here were the ones making Case 53s! You guys have kept me out of the loop!”  
  
The crowd of heroes faltered in the scrambling coordination to attack. There was suddenly a very real shift. Some maintained their momentum, but others had stopped to a dead halt. It wasn’t hard to see the pattern. Gully, a cape who had large hooves, a cape who looked translucent. None of them moved.  
  
There was a shout from someone, “Don’t listen to her, she’s trying to fuck with us!”  
  
Bonesaw waggled a finger, “Good girls don’t lie. And it’d be lying if I said that Cauldron wasn’t just making monsters, but running the Protectorate. I spent yeaaaars doing research on powers and only now does Uncle Bill tell me that you can just buy them! Apparently lots of heroes do. Buying powers, making monsters, I’m hurt no one told me!”  
  
Capes started looking to each other instead of at Bonesaw. _This is bad, she’s fragmenting us. But if she’s telling the truth...she’s never lied. She’s been terrible, but she’s never directly lied that I saw. If she’s telling the truth then this just got much worse than just Bonesaw._  
  
The armband rang out, “Master-Strange protocols activated, all non-Class 1 personnel are to withdraw from engaging Bonesaw.”  
  
Gully spoke up, “Fuck that! We deserve to know what they did to us!”  
  
A cape in blue next to her tried to calm her, “Gully-”  
  
She pushed him away, shouting, “Why? Tell me why!”  
  
Bonesaw preened over the edge, smiling, “Ten. Simple. Acc-i-dent~ They never wanted to make you, they were trying to give people powers. You were just the mistakes they couldn’t use. And when something isn’t useful anymore, you throw it out!”  
  
Bonesaw chucked someone off the edge. Laserdream swooped in, catching them and coming to a rolling crash. I couldn’t see through the other heroes who see had caught. Or, for that matter, where Bonesaw had even been holding him until now. I heard whispers ripple back and common word rose out. Leet.  
  
Alexandria landed on top of the barrier, facing off against Bonesaw. She was glaring daggers at Bonesaw, while Bonesaw was only barely acknowledging her.  
  
Someone called out, “She’s lying. Who the fuck is Uncle Bill?”  
  
A blur zipped from Bonesaw into the crowd and shields went up, stopping a needle mid air. Bonesaw clicked her tongue, “Language. But! You get the point. I know everything about Cauldron. So, Panacea now? I can continue~”  
  
Alexandria dived for Bonesaw. At the same time a lightning bolt zipped out, striking her instantly. Alexandria took the opening and grappled Bonesaw. Bonesaw squirmed in her grip, trying to cut her but getting nowhere. As Alexandria started to squeeze Bonesaw shrieked at the top of her lungs. The Siberian leaped from the other side of the barrier for Alexandria. She tried to fly up out of reach but the Siberian grabbed Bonesaw by the foot, the sudden shift into invulnerability pulling her away from the heroine. Alexandria drifted back, hovering close by them as they landed.  
  
Bonesaw’s face was twisted with fury now as she yelled, “That hurt! You stupid, rude, nasty meanie** bitch**!”  
  
The heroes had her and the Siberian surrounded, but Flechette and Clockblocker were the only two I knew who could counter her. Clockblocker was nowhere to be seen, probably still helping tag powered suits. Flechette was trying to line up a shot subtly from behind the ring of capes a dozen feet away. Bonesaw was shaking her arms and legs out.  
  
“You know who runs Cauldron according to Uncle Bill? A few people, like Eidolon and Alexandria. That’s why you tried so much harder to kill me now, isn’t it? Afraid of all your stupid little secrets coming out.” Bonesaw practically spat the words.  
  
The ring around Bonesaw maintained, but a second ring started to form. A few capes backed away from Alexandria, questioning looks thrown back and forth. Some stayed by her side, making a show of their loyalty. Alexandria hovered, taking her classic pose.  
  
“Do you think the Protectorate’s heroes are so weak-minded as to fall for your tricks? A secret organization, the ability to make powers. Deranged notions from a sick mind. A murderer and psychopath trying to sow discord. Did your brain viruses fail so you’re forced to turn to mundane tricks?”  
  
Bonesaw wagged a finger, “Tut-tut Alexandria. That’s where you’re wrong! I already released the virus hours ago while my creations distracted you.” A malicious grin grew on her face. Heroes faltered, taking half steps back at the implication. We had all been compromised already.  
  
Bonesaw continued, “It’s a fun little plague really! See, Uncle Bill remembered being part of Cauldron, so I recorded some of his synaptic connections, whipped up a little plague, and gave them out. Relevant memory implantation via forced firing of related networks. Kicks in with the right stimulus to the optical cortex, or specifically red-blue at 14-15Hz.”  
  
She held up a strobe suddenly, not quite blinding but distracting enough, and shouted with a giggle, “Epilepsy warning!”  
  
My vision blurred, a swirl of color and movement around Bonesaw and the sounds of shouting mixed in with the shifting colors. Images, patterns formed. Cells, hundreds, thousands of them in windowless corridors. A secretive woman, a man in a well kept suit with a pen, a woman in a black fedora. Sound, then words began to leak through with the pictures. Murmured conversation. Eidolon pounding a fist on the table while the woman in the black fedora spoke emotionlessly.  
  
The meeting was filled with frustration. Manton sat at the table, drumming his fingers impatiently. Eidolon was objecting again to their measures, but he would cave. He always did. It was such a waste of his time, having to listen to the man berate them with moral platitudes. He only had the power to do so because of them. Because of the sacrifices they had made. Eidolon only put up a fight for his own conscious, not out of any real hope of change.  
  
He sighed and gave a nod to Alexandria. Best time to get things moving again. Alexandria nodded back, agreeing that it had gone on long enough. She stood, putting a hand on Eidolon’s shoulder and looking into his eyes. The man paused, and then sat. Contessa continued with the plan she had been laying out before he had interrupted. A need to increase the unstable fraction of the vials. Stable powers were weak, useless to them. They needed the ones like Eidolon, which only came at great risk. Each success was a spit in the eye of god, a delay to the apocalypse.  
  
The cost was heavy. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of dead or mutated subjects per success based off their predictions. And whether the success would even have the right power set was a gamble. Manton sighed to himself. It was a difficult road, but he would do anything for her. Keeping her safe was worth any cost. And they were the dead, the dying, the desperate. At least with him they got a chance to save the world. It wasn’t a good chance, but without him they would die, having contributed nothing. A man’s greatest failure was to die without contributing to society, he was saving them from that failure. A last rite, a chance at forgiveness.  
  
The memory faded as he got up from the table, the images blurring. I felt like I had just lived as Manton, thought his thoughts. My brain tangled as it tried to pull apart and separate what I had seen with who I had been. I staggered, trying to right myself and nearly falling over. It had felt like ten, maybe fifteen minutes had passed. A voice was shouting at me.  
  
“Ichor! Ichor, are you okay?”  
  
I shook my head, trying to throw off the half formed images that pulled me back like a dream when you couldn’t quite wake up.  
  
“Ugh...I think so. What’s happening?”  
  
“You have to snap out of it! Bonesaw and Alexandria ran off!”  
  
I felt the key in my head turn and snapped out of the dream-like state. Reality returned with sharp, painful clarity as I looked around. Dozens of capes looked like I felt, shaking their heads and mumbling. Some had woken before me, some were still trying to sort vision from reality. A small murmuring rose as more and more broke from the vision.  
  
I groaned, “Thanks Konketsu.”  
  
A cape, Bullet I think, took charge and projected his voice, “Take a minute, pull yourself together, and whoever feels ready can come with me. Bonesaw ran off, we can’t let her escape!”  
  
Another spoke, a woman covered in scales, “And what of Alexandria?”  
  
Bullet replied, “Also gone. I bet she’s fighting Bonesaw as we speak.”  
  
The woman snarled, “You bet? Or has she run from what we saw?”  
  
Another spoke, “It was just another trick, Bonesaw is fucking with us.”  
  
The woman stomped her feet, large and clawed. “I saw my mother! I saw them give me the damned vial and how it changed me! I remember her name. It was Kelly. She sang me lullabies...it can’t be fake. I can remember fragments now.”  
  
Bullet folded his arms, “Anything can be fake. It’s Bonesaw, she’s a wet Tinker. If you’re not ready, it’s fine-”  
  
The translucent person from before spoke, “Brood is right. I saw visions of my past as well. We were taken, drugged, and turned into monsters. Fuck, we should be going after the both of them. And Eidolon to boot!”  
  
A chaos erupted as capes began to shout at each other. Case 53s grouping together for the most part along with a few normal capes and the rest grouping around Bullet. I spotted Prism and Ursa in the crowd with Bullet and grimaced. My Wards weren’t here, undoubtedly with Eidolon fighting the suits since they were some of the best counters to them. The undecided pool became smaller and smaller. Miss Militia stood with Bullet. Weld stood with Brood. Adamant stood with Bullet. Cache stood with Brood, receiving a hard look from Adamant for it. Flechette danced on her toes nervously next to me.  
  
What did I think? The vision had certainly seemed real, felt real. It was hard to believe Bonesaw could’ve conjured dozens of memories so realistic from nothing. And yet she was _the_ Wet Tinker. If anyone could have messed with our minds, it was her. She had already tried before. _Yet when she tried to make Panacea see her as a sister, it didn’t work nearly as well. Has she gotten better or is it because she didn’t need to force it? I don’t know anything about brains, I don’t have enough information to know whether she could’ve faked it or not. Okay, we can’t determine if it was fake, so what can I determine? Who I trust. I don’t trust the Protectorate or Bonesaw._  
  
I clenched my teeth. I had nothing to go off. I didn’t know Tinkering, I didn’t know if fake memories could work that way, or who was lying. I looked between the two groups. They had devolved into full on shouting. Anger from Bullet’s group, overtones of righteousness and authority. Rage from Brood’s, accompanied by grief and injustice. I saw tears streaming from Brood’s reptilian eyes as she shouted how the Protectorate had betrayed her trust. I felt a hollowness in my heart, a sickening recall of when I had been the same. When I had learned that the Protectorate had Sophia as a hero. How no one had sided with me during the years at Winslow, which felt so long ago. They had been turned into monsters, branded freaks and outcasts. I looked at my hand, still pale as ever but coursing underneath with life fibers. I had promised to kill the person who had done that to me. I couldn’t expect that they would want any less.  
  
I clenched my fists. Could I let such an injustice go if it was true? No. Not in a million years. No one had believed me when I had wanted the bullying to stop. No one had helped. I had to be better than that. It might be a trick, but if it wasn’t? These people had been exploited by the Protectorate, by their very leaders and the people they trusted most. It was unacceptable. I felt my blood simmer, held in check until I was certain.  
  
I took a step towards Brood’s side. I felt many eyes follow me as I committed. A pitter patter of steps followed me. As I reached Brood’s group I turned to see Flechette had followed me. Gully clapped a hand on my shoulder, she looked grief stricken and sick.  
  
“It means a lot that you chose to stand with us. Just know, no matter what happens, we won’t forget.” Her voice was choking with emotion, knuckles white around the grip of her shovel.  
  
I spoke, slowly as I felt out my words, “I was taken advantage of and no one believed me. I won’t let it happen again.”  
  
A few of the group near me heard and I saw nods and looks of approval or thanks. I tapped my armband with a sudden inspiration.  
  
“I need the location of Aegis, Clockblocker, Vista, or Kid Win.”  
  
“Communications temporarily frozen except for emergency broadcasts.”  
  
I threw my arm back down to my side. _ Useless, I can’t get in touch to see what Eidolon is up to. _ Two figures jogged towards the group from down the street. I recognized Vex from the Teeth, she was bloodied and limping. Tattletale accompanied her, in better shape though her suit had a lot of wear and tear to it that I hadn’t seen last time. She waved me down from behind the group as the shouting continued. Brood was practically butting heads with Bullet. Threats of insubordination, jail time, and resignations flew with wild abandon.  
  
Tattletale called over, “Ichor! Listen, we gotta get moving double time, pronto.”  
  
I stepped back from the group, clearly not leaving them but just taking the conversation to a slightly more private few feet away.  
  
I lowered my voice, “Bit busy if you can’t tell.”  
  
Tattletale lowered her voice to match mine and shook her head furiously, “Doesn’t matter.” I started to interrupt, but she interrupted me before I could form my thought, “-yes I know it matters to you, but it doesn’t _really_ matter. I heard most of what happened and saw Alexandria fly off while Vex here took a breather. What matters right now is that we have to go after Alexandria.”  
  
I gave her a flat stare, “I don’t know where she is and she can fly faster than me. She could be anywhere.”  
  
Tattletale held up her phone, a map open with different colored dots on it, “But she’s not. She’s right here.” She pointed to a blue dot. “Don’t ask how I got into the armband tracking system, fruits of your project, we can talk later. Just grab me and let’s go! If I’m right about what she’s about to do, we need to get there fast. We might not make it anyway.”  
  
I hesitated, “What’s she going to do?” It was Tattletale. She had saved me, and we had a working business relationship, but she was also still a former or not-so-former villain. I didn’t know her as well as I did my team or Parian. Trusting her was difficult.  
  
Tattletale slapped my shoulder, “I’ll tell you on the way, just pick me up and go! Go, go go!” She accentuated each verbal prod with a smack.  
  
I flinched back, more instinct than any real ability to feel pain from something that light. I grumbled, picking her up in a bridal carry. Turning to Flechette I gestured to her, “Get some heroes. Find my team if you can. Meet us here.” Tattletale held out the phone and pointed to Alexandria’s location.  
  
Flechette nodded, somewhat baffled as I took off. I leaped into the air and tried to morph Konketsu into the flying form I had used with Junketsu earlier. I felt resistance and confusion.  
  
Konketsu yelped, “Ow, what are you doing Ichor?”  
  
I stopped my effort, instead directing my fall, “I need to fly. That’s how I did it before.”  
  
The kamui berated me, “I’m your partner. You don’t need to force your will on me. Show the shape of what you want again.”  
  
I curled my lips in, embarrassed, “Ah. Sorry.” Mentally trying to send the idea to him without the order part. Tattletale quirked a brow at me, looked thoughtful, and then quickly looked like she had come to an understanding.  
  
Konketsu started to morph, “Hmmm, I see. Clever, I wouldn’t have thought of trying that.”  
  
He turned into a similar form. Slightly different in style, the lines more streamlined for his shape rather than Junketsu’s. Our fall was corrected and we went zipping forward, making record time towards the location on the map. Tattletale pulled in against me as the wind whipped past, my hair wild and free in it.  
  
I spoke to Tattletale, almost shouting into the wind, “What happened on the villain side?”  
  
She shouted back while trying to control her hair, “Lines broke once the suits got a few capes. Lost coordination. Butcher left to take down Spree and we got fucking blitzed. Accord’s guys managed to find Leet and his lab near the epicenter, took ‘em out. Teeth are pretty much down except for Vex and Butcher, same for the Elite. After Bonesaw fucked off they stopped making more, and Myriddin and your Wards were cleaning things up.”  
_  
So that’s where Aegis and the rest were. Still on the front lines handling the suits. At least it sounds like that’s under control, though I would’ve liked to have them here..._  
  
We covered the city blocks in a matter of seconds, quickly coming down in a more dilapidated area. From above I saw the shadows of movement and a bright white light come to life. I crashed down right next to it. The pavement cracked under my feet. We were in a run-down basketball court. A window out of thin air was next to me, a white room on the other side with light spilling out. It snapped closed almost instantly. In front of me were Alexandria and Eidolon, between them was Bonesaw. Her arms were missing and her body was in rough shape. She was still smiling, her smile growing even wider as she spotted me.  
  
“Sis! I knew you’d come! PanPan lend you her gift to save me?”  
  
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a woman in a black suit slink off. Alexandria and Eidolon turned, Eidolon relaxing from his fighting stance while Alexandria held hers. I let Tattletale down, she hopped out of my arms and stood next to me.  
  
Alexandria spoke authoritatively, “Ichor. If you’re here to help, we’ve got the situation under control.”  
  
I paused, taking a moment. Tattletale looked to me expectantly. _Great, she pulls me into this and now she wants me to lead._  
  
I tried to match her confidence, “I am. But I have some questions that need answering first.”  
  
  



	25. Interlude 8: Prism

### Interlude 8: Prism

  
  
Prism had been trying so hard, but everything hurt. Not physically. She had been skilled and lucky enough that the Nine hadn’t done any real harm, thanks to her ability to choose which clone to snap back to. But mentally, emotionally, down to the fiber of her core she hurt.  
  
She had dealt with the loss of Legend by diving headfirst into the paperwork and duties he had left behind. Impossibly perfect shoes to fill, she had tried her best. Late hours filing paperwork, team meetings to arrange and attend, patrol routes to constantly revise, half a dozen agencies she had to keep in touch with, managing the Wards, and more. Her personal life died a quiet death, but she knew it was necessary. She couldn’t let Legend down after all. He’d done everything for her, made her career a dozen times over while personally being like a friendly uncle to her in the process.  
  
So she worked and she worked and she worked. But things had kept slipping. Jouster had lashed out repeatedly. He always had a bit of a bite to his comments, but his respect for Legend always kept the boy tame. Heathrow dealt with her harder than she thought he would’ve ever spoken to Legend. Some sort of internal power play was in the works and she suspected Heathrow was losing badly at the moment. It was the only reason she could think of for why a relatively relaxed man had changed like that. The loss of Legend must’ve upset some sort of internal balance. He had thought himself lucky when they heard they were getting Ichor and her team. A rising star, some natural charisma, great track record if a bit spotty at times. Powerful too.  
  
And then the Nine had appeared. Heathrow lost what had been left of the calm, friendly man from before. Perhaps because the record of Directors surviving a visit from the Nine was abysmal. Perhaps because whatever recovery he thought he had gotten had turned into a cruel joke. Whatever the exact reason, it was the tipping point for him. And for their relationship. His treatment of both her team and Ichor was unacceptable. Oh, she had let him know.  
  
Heathrow had snorted, “She brought this on herself Prism.”  
  
Prism shouted, “She’s a teenager! You don’t treat her like that. Not now, not ever again. Or so help me…”  
  
Heathrow turned angry eyes on her, “So help me what? You’ll file a complaint?” he snorted. “You’ll attack me? You know that’s a quick trip to prison. You’ll do nothing except help me salvage this shitshow. Ichor will be lucky if she lives through this, she can take some tough love.”  
  
Prism slammed a hand down on Heathrow’s desk, the wood groaning with a crack. “That’s not tough love Heathrow, it’s abuse. Have you even read her file? You’re practically stepping on every emotional landmine she has. Why not make a joke about her dead family while you’re at it?”  
  
Heathrow stood up, “Out. You forget Prism, you aren’t Legend. You never will be. You haven’t earned the right to talk to me like that, and you’ll be lucky if the least that happens after this stunt is a demotion.” He pointed to the door.  
  
Prism balled her fists up and turned on her heels. As she reached the door she turned her head to speak, “This isn’t over Heathrow. Not by a long shot.”  
  
She had slammed the door behind her so hard that half the building had heard. Astrologer and Ursa tried to comfort her. Adamant stormed off to yell at the Director himself, only to come back equally as frustrated. The New York PRT was falling apart at the seams.  
  
She had had plans to berate Jouster, finally spend the time to whip him back into line. Had plans. Flechette had been found crying in an alleyway with Jouster’s body. That had been a rough day for all of them. The other Wards weren’t supposed to be near the combat zone but those two had gotten unlucky. Their patrol route had taken them near the border of the theoretical no-go zone before they had located the Nine, and things had gone south from there.  
  
Flechette was still a mess. The Ward had been taken off active duty and sent to therapy. Then she was caught drinking in her room, too drunk to respond to one of her teammates trying to call her to check in. Prism winced. She had failed the Wards, already losing one to the Nine while forced to let others on Ichor’s team actively engage them. Flechette had snuck out earlier in the day and they hadn’t had the resources to spare to track her down.  
  
Prism watched as Flechette followed Ichor, standing with the crowd of Case 53s and a few other heroes while Bullet shouted against Brood. Ichor had a new costume it seemed. Odd, since she knew the costume was part of her powers. It wasn’t just a style change either, but a complete color change too. That was something she’d have to follow up on. She didn’t want to have another Ward fall to neglect after all.  
  
The memories she’d seen had been unpleasant, though not as bad as some others to say the least. She’d seen Alexandria, Eidolon, Hero and Legend in their prime. Defeated and depressed after an Endbringer battle. The projected casualties. The lack of any tangible progress. Vague references to some sort of apocalyptic event. Numbers she didn’t understand, but dreaded. Nothing outrightly horrific, but seeing the strongest heroes in the world look so defeated stung a small hidden place in her heart.  
  
Why did Ichor, Cache, and Flechette side with Brood? Bullet had an important point: Bonesaw couldn’t be trusted. The memories, for all they knew, were specifically designed to make them not trust each other. Hell, it sounded just like something the Nine would do. Bonesaw was known to mess with the heads of her victims. Now that she was so unpredictable it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she had tried something new.  
  
And yet. And yet, and yet, and yet. Her gut, her instinct, all told her that what she had seen was too candid to be real. Too private. Bonesaw didn’t have the emotional capacity to understand and convey what Prism had seen. Body horror she would’ve expected, but quiet despair, only maybe. Desperate hope mixed with budding frustrations and edged humor to help relieve pressure, not at all. It was the sort of thing that no one ever spoke of after it happened.  
  
Her mind was pulled back as the arguments started to get worse.  
  
“It’s always like this! We’re never trusted, never allowed to take the lead. Of course Mr. Photogenic gets to tell us we’re over-reacting and to be quiet. When have you suffered a day in your damn life Bullet? I bet you took a vial!” Brood shouted.  
  
There was a small pause where everyone looked expectantly to Bullet, doubt creeping in on a few faces. The idea of buying powers hadn’t even been a thing to them until after the visions. People were only just beginning to realize their teammates, their friends, could’ve bought their powers.  
  
Bullet yelled back a split second later, “What, I’m not allowed to be successful?! The only reason you never got lead Brood is because you’re too bitter and angry to be a good team captain. Don’t blame anyone but yourself for that fact. Some of us learn to move on you know.”  
  
Prism winced. They had totally run off from the original arguments over whether to trust the visions and all the bad old blood was spilling out. Old grievances were finding new life breathed into them and the Protectorate was being divided. After Bullet’s last remark things had degraded further, the shouters no longer deigning to even take turns. It was just a chaotic mixture of increasingly angry yelling. Prism was glad the block had been evacuated earlier in the day. If someone had been filming this, it would’ve destroyed the Protectorate.  
  
Prism split into three and stood between the groups, all three copies shouting in sync, “LISTEN.”  
  
The shouts and jeers lowered and she turned her three gazes on anyone who didn’t stop. Both crowds looked at her expectantly.  
  
She sighed, “Look. We’re not getting anywhere like this. And I understand that many of you have been hurt, slighted, or insulted. And I’m no substitute for Legend. I can’t match his charisma. But I know that he wouldn’t want us doing what we are now. He’d be sad to see so many heroes fighting each other when people are hurt.”  
  
She held up her hands placatingly, “The Case 53s bring up some very legitimate grievances. I’m not going to argue the fine points, because right now that’s not the point. The point is that nothing will be solved by us fighting, here and now. You can fight for what you think just later. Bring it to the PRT, to the quality committees, to your teams, to the courts even. Never back down in the face of injustice. But right here, right now? This isn’t getting justice. This is anger and hurt.”  
  
Brood spoke up, “And how do we know it won’t get swept under the rug again?”  
  
Bullet opened his mouth and three glares instantly shot to him, making him reconsider.  
  
Prism nodded slowly to Brood, “You don’t. The Protectorate and the PRT might try. I don’t know, I can’t answer that. But right here and now we still have Bonesaw at large. We still haven’t confirmed several of the other Nine’s survival and we have whatever those suits are. You can’t sue the Protectorate for better behavior if we’re all dead.”  
  
Brood grumbled, “We also risk losing the initiative and momentum if we wait. There’s always another crisis, always some greater good we have to do that takes away any chance we have to push for reform.”  
  
Prism paused as she thought. Brood wasn’t wrong. She could see how, given the schedule of a hero, there would always be something pushing back personal matters to the back burner. It was a vicious cycle, especially with the Endbringers every few months. A guaranteed distraction from any serious effort. There wasn’t an easy rebuttal to that, anything that she said that advocated waiting could be interpreted as just another attempt to push it back. Agreeing would mean inciting them to believe now was the time to push. _ Legend never prepared me for something like this...what do I do?_  
  
As the pause stretched she felt the pressure building as the crowds awaited her response. The tension building as the thin membrane of silence buckled under the pressure. Prism was saved by the shouting of Flechette, who was jogging to the middle ground between the two groups with her.  
  
“Prism! Guys!” She cried, getting their collected attention, a few muttered questions following her interruption.  
  
Flechette looked around, obviously nervous at the sudden attention of dozens of veteran capes. Prism had to admit, she was curious too. Clearly Flechette must’ve thought it important to risk interrupting this many capes who were inches from tearing into each other.  
  
“Ichor went after Bonesaw. She knows where she is I think. She told me to get all the heroes and follow her.” Flechette almost stammered out.  
  
Prism knew an opportunity when she saw one. It was a bit ugly, but it would do.  
  
Brood’s voice boomed out before Prism could speak, “Hmph. If she asked for heroes, then she’ll get_ real _heroes. Unlike some capes, we know how to empathize with the struggles of others.” She waved to her group, “Let’s go. She supported us, we won’t leave her to fight Bonesaw alone a second time.”  
  
Prism cursed again. Brood had seen the same opportunity and taken it, using it for the moral high ground. It would’ve been a good gesture to bring them together if Prism had done it her way, but instead it had been used to gain an advantage.  
  
Bullet put his hands on his hips, “And so will we. Unlike **some** capes, it’s not like we’d leave a teenager to Bonesaw just for disagreeing with us. Come on.”  
  
The two groups didn’t exactly merge, but moved together as Flechette jogged out in front. A flier offering her a hand, which she took as she lead the group forwards. Where they were going, Prism wasn’t entirely sure of, but it didn’t matter. The combined might of the Protectorate would rain down on Bonesaw regardless. If she was lucky, hopefully they could salvage the splintered Protectorate afterwards.  
  
  



	26. Chapter 17: Tell Me Why

### Chapter 17: Tell Me Why

  
  
Alexandria cocked her head slightly, “Questions? Certainly. Once we’ve got the situation cleaned up I’d be happy to answer any questions you have. Out of the range of villains, naturally.” She shot a look to Tattletale.  
  
Tattletale shook her head to me and I grimaced, “I can’t accept that I’m afraid.”  
  
Eidolon moved to grab Bonesaw and I put my hand on my scissor blade. He and Alexandria both paused, tenseness creeping into their body language. Tattletale held her hands behind her back, fingers playing with her wristband.  
  
“Don’t touch her.”  
  
Alexandria looked at me calculatingly, “Are you defending a mass murderer Ichor?”  
  
I clenched my jaw, “No, but I am defending evidence.”  
  
Eidolon spoke, earning him a harsh look from Alexandria, “Evidence?”  
  
I nodded, gesturing to Bonesaw, “Yes. She has a kill order, doesn’t she? So why did I come on you two next to a portal, with her clearly disabled and not dead? Why take the risk of keeping her alive when you’ve clearly got her.”  
  
Alexandria stepped in front of Bonesaw and I tensed. _ Can I take both of the Triumvirate if they decide I’m not worth talking to? Alexandria alone is invincible, but Eidolon is much more versatile than I am. I can’t really touch either of them._ Konketsu remained quiet, I got a thoughtful feeling from him like he was trying to unravel what was going on.  
  
Alexandria spoke, “I understand you’re still a bit anxious after the visions, but don’t forget we have a much longer history of dealing with Bonesaw than you. She’s known to carry viruses, plagues, and all manner of traps in her body. Carelessly killing her could set off a plague. Ideally, we would transport her to a contained location as quickly as possible to execute her. Does that satisfy your concerns?”  
  
Tattletale rolled her eyes, “Bullshit. If that was the case, you’d have done it the instant you had her down.”  
  
I added along, “Why not just do it now? Surely Eidolon can contain her. Hell, what was that portal and white room even? I haven’t heard of any Protectorate cape capable of something like that.”  
  
Tattletale opened her mouth and a piece of concrete zipped by her head. I had barely seen Alexandria whip her arm to throw it, partly because I hadn’t been ready for it. _ Not a mistake I’ll make again._  
  
“I tolerate Ichor because she has earned her place with her heroics. You do not so much as speak or I’ll throw the next one through your head.” She said with almost impatience to Tattletale, who just nodded. Bonesaw was smiling up at Eidolon who was watching her like a hawk behind Alexandria.  
  
“While Eidolon’s powers are impressive, we would not risk millions of people by relying on him when we have safer options. Now, I hope that’s satisfactory as we shouldn’t leave Bonesaw alive for any longer than necessary.”  
  
I squeezed my fists, “How can you be so calm?! We saw what happened with Cauldron, what you did. What you continue to do! How do you just stand her and make excuses like I’m supposed to be able to trust you? If you could take her down so quickly, why didn’t you do it before? Did you just want her down before we all came out of the vision so we couldn’t find out the truth?” I ranted, feeling the emotions I had suppressed for months boiling out and over.  
  
Alexandria’s sighed, “Oh Ichor. I know it’s difficult, fighting the Nine always is. But you can’t believe what you see. They can trick even the smartest capes. They have before. Look, you’re a bright hero, you’ve done a lot in a short time. You’re stressed, and that made it easier for Bonesaw to manipulate you. This is why we have Master-Stranger protocols. You have to trust us. I have the codes if you want to check.”  
  
The sigh, the pitying look, the tone. I felt everything go cold and numb as the memories of Blackwell flooded back. Denying any wrongdoing. Blaming it on me for stirring up trouble. Covering things up when it was convenient. Acting like somehow I was the problem and treating me like a poor, lost child.  
  
After the cold came the heat. Piggot’s excuses for Sophia’s actions. Years of torment. The loss of my Dad. Heathrow’s veiled threats. What happened to Panacea. All because the people in charge abused their authority, claiming it was better for everyone that way. Alexandria could’ve taken Bonesaw down years ago, I could see it now. But she hadn’t, she had waited until Bonesaw had hurt her. Only when it became her problem did Bonesaw matter enough to pull out whatever big guns she had been hiding.  
  
My anger began to boil over and I felt my blood pumping into Konketsu. I had said I was going to become a model hero, that I was going to change things from the inside. Yet even when I was standing in front of the leader of the Protectorate, red-handed, she acted like I was nothing more than a lost child. Insignificant.  
  
The roar of a crowd suddenly broke into the basketball court from the opposite end. I glanced over, the heroes from early had spilled into the area and were speaking angrily to each other.  
  
A cape shouted, “She’s lying! I remember the white rooms! They’re from Cauldron!”  
  
Another followed, “The portals! That’s how they grabbed us!”  
  
A third, “Lies! Traitor!”  
  
Another from the other crowd, “Shut the fuck up! Can’t you show Alexandria some respect?”  
  
Tattletale elbowed me gently and flicked her wrist. I looked down. She was holding the communication override button while she kept her hands behind her back. _But communications were locked...Except she knew where Alexandria was. Did she have a way to broadcast too? That meant everyone heard everything._  
  
The crowd surged forward and split. Some of the capes rushing to Alexandria’s side, clearly standing in front of her ready to defend her from having to deal with the annoyances of the small fry. The other crowd, larger now than before, stood angrily across, almost pushing up against them. Alexandria half turned to face the new mob. Flechette was taking the long way around, trying to make her way around to me from the looks of it.  
  
I was still consumed by my own thoughts. Alexandria, my childhood hero, was no better than Blackwell. She had all but called me an ignorant child. Maybe Tattletale was right, maybe she had been happy to leave me for dead during Leviathan. The visions had shown she was pragmatic, willing to throw away lives for even a small advantage.  
  
Alexandria spoke to the crowd, “As of this moment, I am still the leader of the Protectorate and the second largest team in the United States. That hasn’t changed. You do not get the benefit that Ichor does of being inexperienced. You will stand down and follow orders.”  
  
A cape yelled back, “You don’t have that authority anymore!”  
  
Bonesaw piped up suddenly, “Sure she does, she’s Costa-Brown!”  
  
Alexandria’s arm snapped out, cleaving Bonesaw’s chest in two instantly. Bonesaw’s top half flopped forward onto the ground as blood and viscera sprayed out. From behind her I saw the look of anger that was painted on her face and almost shivered. _The invincible hero looking ready to kill everyone who gets in her way. And there’s nothing we can do._  
  
There was a chorus of surprised exclamations at the sudden carnage,  
  
“Holy shit!”  
“She just killed Bonesaw!”  
“Shut up! Bonesaw deserved it!”  
“Good! Kill the Nine!”  
“You said she was carrying plagues! You’ve killed us all!”  
“She was trying to silence her!”  
  
Alexandria raised her voice, “Silence! I will not let this go any further. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You risk tearing apart everything we’ve worked for, bled for, over this. You have no idea what you’re doing. You’re betraying the very Protectorate you helped defend.”  
  
A cape shouted back, “You have no place saying that!”  
  
Alexandria whipped her arm out, “There will be no more today. What happened here cannot be talked about. You want an investigation? There will be one, you will have justice based on facts. Not on dream-quests from the Nine. But we cannot have the public seeing the Protectorate tearing itself apart from the inside. We are the best hope that people have, we will not fall apart in front of them.”  
  
A supporter added on, “She’s right, we’re the only thing standing between people and the S-class threats. What kind of heroes would we be to destroy this and everyone’s hope?”  
  
I bristled. Destroying hope? She had been stabbing hope in the back for years, all while getting praised for it. Ending up in every child’s toy set and on every TV. and they had the gall,_ the gall_, to say that we were the ones threatening the world? It was Shadow Stalker all over again. A psychopath protected by the Protectorate, lauded by the public, all while abusing people and no one spoke up.  
  
From the side, I saw my friends and other capes, those who had been on the frontlines fighting the suits, entering the area. My team walked over to me while the rest stood awkwardly. They hadn’t been part of the initial conflict, they didn’t know what was at stake or who to side with. Aegis and Vista both put a hand on one of my shoulders and nodded to me, standing with me in solidarity. Tattletale was looking the most alive I had ever seen her, barely keeping herself from speaking. _ If she did, I bet Alexandria would silence her too and she knows it._  
  
The crowd faltered at the rebuttal, replying out of sync, and I hissed between my teeth.  
  
Konketsu spoke up, “Ichor, you’re getting dangerously upset. Your blood is too hot.”  
  
I muttered, “I know.”  
  
Alexandria floated slightly, taking her classic _fucking_ pose.  
  
“There will be a full investigation, I will submit everything I have to inspection. There will be justice and it will be done in due course as provided by the law. Not by a lynch mob. Until then, you will listen, and you will follow orders. We are heroes, not a crowd of hooligans.”  
  
The crowd was backing down. I could see it in their hesitation. The mixture of fear and anger that was left on their faces. They didn’t believe her, but she had just killed Bonesaw in an instant. The anger on her face, even from behind, was palpable. Eidolon stood near her, hood down like an ominous bodyguard.  
  
They were going to give in. I could see it now. She’d force them down under her boot, promising an investigation which would never pay off. Dissenters would be split up, re-distributed to teams away from each other or kept from promotions. A few accidents for the more abrasive, courtesy of Cauldron and Endbringers. A few years and every spark of dissent born here would be dead, one way or another. Nothing would change. **Nothing** would change. I felt everything dissociate and I felt like I was outside my body. It was that day all over again. The day I had been too depressed to get off the bus, knowing nothing would change.  
  
I turned to Flechette who stood behind me, worried. I didn’t care if it didn’t work, I had to do something. Anything.  
  
“Use your power on my blade.” I whispered.  
  
She looked shocked, whispering back, “What? I can’t-.”  
  
I pulled my mask off and held it out to her, “Do it.”  
  
Flechette paused, looking stunned as she gingerly took my mask. She reached out to the blade in my hand as I started taking a step forward. Nothing mattered to it now. Not air, nor concrete, nor diamond even. The balance was light like a feather, it almost slipped out of my hand with the odd way the size and apparent weight interplayed suddenly. I flicked the blade up in a smooth motion, feeling it slide forward effortlessly.  
  
The voices stopped.  
  
Alexandria looked back at me slowly. The blade protruded from the other side of her chest.  
  
A surprised, “Ichor?” came out of her.  
  
I snarled, hooking my hand through the handle. The blade had only been empowered for a few moments, once more mundane to the touch. I pushed my shoulder into the motion, heaving her up by the blade as my forearm took the weight. I pulled her up as every cape stared, unspeaking. With a step I moved forward and whipped the blade. Alexandria was thrown off it by the motion, flying over the crowd and crashing into the building behind them. She impacted, and then fell, landing motionless on the concrete.  
  
I let the blade drop to my side and straightened my back.  
  
“The time for speeches is over.”  
  
Eidolon looked up from under his cowl, eyes wide and horrified.  
  
I projected my voice, “Listen up. As of now, my team and I are putting an end to your abuse of authority.”  
  
I heard them step up behind me. I had taken a gamble, not knowing if they knew. If they’d back me up. I had just killed Alexandria in front of them and they stood with me. _ If I wasn’t so angry, they might make me cry doing things like that._  
  
I continued while I had momentum, “People do not live to be abused at the hands of the powerful! People live for themselves, not to be tools for your plans. No more hiding, no more lies. I, Taylor Hebert, am rising up against the corruption of the Protectorate and PRT.”  
  


  
Spoiler: TAYLOR HEBERT

  
The crowd was still silent, stunned. I saw Alexandria moving erratically at the far end of the court, the first time I had ever seen the heroine do anything that could be called weak. Eidolon looked up and threw his hands out and the world became heavy as I felt gravity start to try and crush me down.  
  
I stood tall as the pavement cracked around me, feeling my kamui flare with power against the increasingly crushing gravity. The ground punched downward, sinking in a circle around me. Aegis took a knee and Kid Win tried to raise his pistol at Eidolon. A shot fired out, impacting the ground not more than a few feet away.  
  
It was enough.  
  
The crowds erupted and everything went to hell. Blasts were fired between the two main groups, shields were quickly erected. Flames, electricity, water, and exotic effects started to fill the area as capes threw their offensive arsenals at each other. Eidolon’s concentration was taken for a moment to deflect a beam that headed for him and in that moment I dashed out from the gravity for him.  
  
He gestured with a hand and I was squeezed between two prismatic barriers, trying to crush me in mid air. Aegis barreled for him and was pushed down by another burst of gravity. Kid Win opened fire, aiming for his legs and Eidolon calmly deflected the shots off, hitting another cape with them. Vista warped her costume, stretching a piece out to try and hit him while Clockblocker rushed him from the other side. A larger wave of gravity threw us all back and sent us sprawling.  
  
Eidolon rushed forward at us, floating above the ground as his palms glowed a sickly green. His face was full of grief and anger. He had just lost his closest friend. And right now, I didn’t care. His closest friend had been a murderer, a manipulator, and a traitor. He had been complicit every single time. He was threatening not just my ideals, but my friends. I would take him down too if he made me.  
  
The sickly green energy flashed brightly and I leaped up, intercepting the beam before it could spread out and hit my team. I felt everything burn horribly, like an unquenchable fire and was thrown back into the ground below. My blade went flying from my weakened arms, clattering away. My kamui sparkled dully and I felt it shift back into its normal form, the pure white stained with blood and dirt, crumpled and dishevelled.  
  
Konketsu and Clockblocker shouted in time, “Ichor!”  
  
I mumbled, pushing a hand into the pavement and lifting myself up an inch, “Call me Taylor. ‘S my real name.” I spat a glob of blood out of my mouth, feeling more trickle down my chin.  
  
Konketsu spoke anxiously, “Taylor, you’re hurt, we should back off. He’s stronger than us.”  
  
I spat, pushing myself up another inch as I felt bones crack in my chest. “I know. But I won’t give up. I won’t have become a fucked-up hybrid for nothing. I won’t let them abuse anyone else.”  
  
Konketsu squeezed me gently, “You’re not messed-up. You’re at one with your father’s legacy-”  
  
A sudden voice pierced the action, “Ichor, you gotta get up!”  
  
I turned my head, seeing a young black girl gesturing wildly. Eidolon, too, turned his head to watch her. All of us stunned by her surprise appearance.  
  
“Look I didn’t do all this just to have you die on me and let the city get torn apart! You have to finish what you started! Sure Bonesaw fucked with your body, but you can’t let that get you down. You need to do that thing you did against Leviathan in the videos. Make a contract with your outfit or however it works. Just get naked!”  
  
The girl suddenly jerked to the side with a wave of Eidolon’s hand and yelped, “Oh shit-!”  
  
I paused, holding myself a few inches from the ground. She was right, I wasn’t in sync with Konketsu like when I forced Junketsu. There was a distance between us, because I didn’t accept him and I didn’t accept myself anymore. Konketsu was right too, I was one with my Dad’s tech. His last gift to me. _Huh, in a way Bonesaw made it so I’d never be without him._ The thought washed over me like a comforting hug from him. I felt a small smile grow on my face. They were right and I wasn’t about to fail everyone this soon.  
  
“Konketsu.”  
  
The kamui replied, “Ah, yes Taylor?”  
  
I reached my arm over to the silver clasps, “I get it now. Trust me one more time?”  
  
I heard an affirmative grunt as I flipped the clasps, the three needles plunging into my wounded and burned flesh. I murmured to myself and one other, “Life Fiber Synchronize, Kamui Konketsu!”  
  
Light flashed and filled the area. Konketsu transformed. Blood red shot down the white as it filled the outfit. Now the shoulders shot up, surrounding my head on each side, his eyes larger than before. I felt a vent blow on my back like I had an engine, similar to when I had unlocked Junketsu. My skin grew back, clean and unmarred by the fire, bones snapping back in place. Everything fit just a bit better, everything felt just a bit more right. Konketsu had been right. I had to stop thinking of myself as messed up. I was one with my Dad’s last gift. There was no shame, no underlying disgust at that. I would make our legacy and take the Protectorate down.  
  
My blood wrapped around me, swirling low to the ground as I pushed out more and more. Konketsu wasn’t consuming nearly as much as Junketsu had, I was free to push more blood out. Eidolon stood across from me, staring me down. The battle around us was quickly expanding as the ranged capes took up positions further away, trying to flank or gain valuable ground. _ At this rate half of Manhattan will be our battleground. _  
  
Eidolon charged up another aura of sickly green energy and I moved. There was nothing for it, he was more versatile, more powerful, more experienced than I was. My only chance was to play to my strengths early and hard. The distance between us disappeared in an instant, I recognized Vista augmenting my speed with her power. My fist flew out for Eidolon’s face only to be met with wreathed green flame again. I could feel it eat at my costume, slowing my regeneration. Blood coalesced around me, smothering the flames quickly. Eidolon was floating above, a derivative of his gravity power. Or perhaps he had taken a flight power. I knew he could hold three powers, I just needed to get to know his arsenal and counter it before he could change.  
  
A feat that had never happened once in his career as a cape.  
  
I caught a glimpse from the corner of my vision and reached out, my scissor blade landing comfortably in my grip. _ I’m giving Aegis a promotion for that._ I twirled it in hand and launched myself into the sky, mid leap speaking to Konketsu.  
  
“Flight Mode.” I knew it had hurt him when I had tried to force it before, so I’d just have to tell him what I needed. He was a partner, not a tool like Junketsu had been. It was important I remember that.  
  
Gravity pushed down around me, crushingly as I struggled to fly up after Eidolon. Below I saw Aegis and Kid Win trying the same but equally pinned down. We couldn’t block gravity, none of our powers worked as a counter for it. _ He always gets what he needs._ It was a frustrating power to fight, it meant he always had the upper hand. Maybe trick his power into needing the opposite of what I’ll hit him with? No, if it was that simple he would’ve gone down before to someone else. A simple bait and switch wouldn’t be enough.  
  
The blood I had behind me started to wither and dry up, my control over it lessening with each moment it dried until it fell out of my control entirely. A sphere of desiccation was expanding from behind me, eating up the blood I had around me as a shield. _ It’ll eat me too if I don’t move. I can’t go back with the gravity or it’ll hit me. What was it Mom always said? Swim parallel to the shore, don’t fight the current_. I threw myself sideways, the crushing weight still pressing down on me but not worsening. If it was a sphere like how it felt through my blood then I just needed to get far enough to the side to drop back down. He couldn’t expand it forever or he risked hurting capes that were siding with him. Well, not hurting, but killing. A power like that wasn’t useful for much else.  
  
_It sure does counter a blood based power awfully well. Fuck, how do I handle someone who has perfect counters to me handed to him?_ As I pushed sideways Kid Win peppered bolts at Eidolon from the ground. Gravity worked on light, but it was a lot less than it worked on us and desiccation didn’t do anything at all. The bolts flew, mostly straight but bending a bit the further they went. The first volley missed, but Chris quickly corrected and the follow up shots struck a barrier that Eidolon erected in front of himself.  
  
Poor Clockblocker was basically stuck, gravity pinning him down and being the least mobile of any of us. Vista’s powered was greatly reduced by the sheer number of capes fighting nearby, limiting how much she could warp. Tattletale had disappeared in the chaos, she wasn’t a fight after all. As much as they wanted to help, they were up against someone who could easily exploit their weaknesses. Clock was probably our best chance to take Eidolon, his power was one of the rare ones thought to be inviolable. It trumped pretty much any other power, it might trump Eidolon if we could tag him. Even a minute of downtime to plan would be a game changer.  
  
I was almost clear of the sides of where I thought the sphere was. I had sent blood out in a mist and was keeping track of where I lost control of it. A little more and I could descend and regroup. The crushing downward weight of gravity started to shift as Eidolon must’ve changed tactics. I looked over my shoulder and saw a disc of pure darkness roughly inside where the sphere of desiccation would be. Everything was being pulled inexorably towards it. _ Holy shit. He’s created a singularity. He’s going to kill us all._  
  
I shouted down, “Aegis, Vista! Get Clock and Kid out of here!”  
  
There wasn’t the usual backtalk at trying to talk me out of staying. They had looked up at the growing singularity and knew that there wasn’t time. Aegis grabbed Kid, using his bulk to pull them along the concrete slowly away. Vista was warping space and trying to coordinate with Clockblocker. He’d put a barrier and freeze it so they couldn’t be pulled back, but their progress was stiflingly slow. Beyond just my friends, the cape fight around us was rapidly changing in response to the massive gravitational pull. Capes were backing off quickly, with some on the fringes seeming unable to do more than just hold on.  
  
I was the closest to it. I felt Konketsu straining to keep us from being pulled in, small grunts of concentration escaping from him as I stayed in place against the pull. The sphere of desiccation was still expanding from how it ate the blood that was getting sucked into the singularity. _I can’t stay like this. If I don’t move, that sphere will catch up with me. If I go back, the singularity will tear me apart and it’s too strong for me to fly away. I can’t use my blood, he can just destroy it off-handedly. _  
  
I needed more power, more momentum. I had to escape the pull before it tore everything nearby apart. Eidolon just watched me, his hood covering his face so I couldn’t read his expression but his hands were balled into fists. I should’ve realized that would happen. He had lost Legend only a few months ago. Alexandria was the last of the original four, his closest remaining friend, and I had killed her right in front of him. I had been so angry that I hadn’t thought through what would happen.  
  
I heard a shout from nearby, Tattletale leaning from a fire escape, “Ichor! Gravity slingshot! Buy me two minutes!”  
  
_Gravity slingshot. I remember that from physics, it was how they had launched probes deep into the solar system before the Simurgh came. By approaching at an angle they skimmed off the edge of the gravity well and were whipped around. Can I do the same? I’m not an engineer, I don’t know how to eyeball that kind of thing. Can I get through the sphere fast enough to survive...It’s not instant, it took a few seconds to consume my blood. I also don’t have a choice._  
  
It was that or wait as Eidolon watched me slowly succumb to his amazingly bullshit ability to fuck me over. I was getting real tired of opponents I couldn’t beat. Leviathan, Bonesaw, Eidolon. People had told me I was one of the most promising Wards of this generation but I still got my ass kicked every few months. Tattletale needed two minutes. A lot in a fight against Eidolon, but I didn’t have the luxury of options.  
  
I spoke, “Konketsu, I’m going to try and slingshot us. Hold together, ok?”  
  
My kamui spoke back, “It seems like our best option. It’ll be hard, but I’ll give it my best.”  
  
“Me too.”  
  
I turned and started to accelerate towards just outside the edge of the singularity. I knew vaguely that an event horizon might be a thing, but if I wasn’t close enough I didn’t think the maneuver would work. Frankly I had never thought gravitational equations would be vital to my survival at any point during high school. The pull of the singularity accelerated me faster than any effort I could’ve put in and it closed with startling speed. One moment I was still at the outer edge, the next I was practically on top of it.  
  
I could feel my skin drying, the moisture being pulled out of me as I whipped past the edge of the singularity. The pull from it tore at my body, my arm on that side almost flying out. Konketsu wrapped his fibers around my limbs, keeping them together. A good idea too, I didn’t have the strength to resist being pulled entirely and it would’ve thrown our flight off. I felt him grow weaker as the sphere pulled the blood out of him and dried it. I tried to divert more towards him, but my own body was being sucked dry by Eidolon’s power. I yelled as we passed the apex of the turn, feeling the increase in speed as we rocketed towards Eidolon.  
  
Eidolon for his part looked surprised, a prismatic barrier shimmering up before him as I crashed into it. And through it. Rainbow shards of forcefield shattering apart, I flew head first into Eidolon’s gut. The older hero hacked out a cough as we both went flying towards the sky. Wrapping my arms around him I tried to steer us onto the roofs below. Eidolon struggled, punching me weakly in the side. _ He’s switching powers, it’ll be something for close combat. _  
  
As we plummeted towards the crash site Eidolon hit me again and I felt a rib crack. Brute power. I didn’t have time to consider more as we hit the roof, skidding across it and crashing through an air-conditioning unit. I was tougher now, stronger. I could pick myself up after a landing like that. So, too, could Eidolon it turned out. His hood had been ripped off and he stared me down with an angry grief.  
  
_Hold him for two minutes._  
  
I charged Eidolon, swinging the scissor blade for him. He put up an arm and my blade bounced off like it had hit pure steel. Harder, probably, since I was reasonably sure I could cut some steel with effort. He punched out and I moved to dodge but the hit was already where I was moving to. My cheek cracked as the fist connected, my regeneration turning up to heal it moments later. My leg kicked out, aiming for his side, but he had already moved and was throwing another hit at my face. I stumbled back, the hit connecting when I had so clearly dodged it yet again.  
  
I stepped back, creating distance between us. _He’s beating me in direct combat. He must’ve taken a Brute rating and some sort of combat Thinker or reflex power. There’s no other way he could outmaneuver me._ My blood whipped out for the older hero. I was still regenerating enough for both me and Konketsu, but I needed to buy time. The streams of blood stopped halfway and I felt my control over them weaken and disappear. The blood didn’t however and instead swirled around Eidolon before whipping back at me. It didn’t return to my control as it approached, I was forced to deflect blood with blood, digging into my vulnerable and already low stores.  
  
Konketsu spoke warningly, “You’re running low Taylor, we can’t keep this up.”  
  
I berated him gently, “You worry about Eidolon, I’ll worry about keeping us going.”  
  
Each deflection of blood was costing me. He was taking more and more from me and I had less to defend with. _The fuck kindof power does this fit under?_ A tendril of blood slipped under my defense and snaked for me, my blade whipping out to disperse it. I was saved from my increasingly weakened defense by Kid Win flying over the lip of the roof, showering Eidolon with a barrage from him and his drones. The bolts simply bounced off him like they were nothing and a wave of blood careened across the roof for Kid. Aegis leaped over the other side, Clockblocker in hand and threw Clock straight for Eidolon. The caped hero side-stepped the flying Clockblocker, who froze himself as he passed by and stopped before flying off the other side of the roof.  
  
I took advantage of the break on my defenses to pull my blood back. I didn’t want to give Eidolon more fuel to use against use. Rushing forward I swung the blade at his midsection, only for it to bounce right back off again. Eidolon clocked me in the jaw again. Vista was warping the roof, giving Kid and Aegis more room to dodge and Eidolon less as Aegis and I closed in. Aegis towered over Eidolon and brought his fist down, only for it to bounce back. A hit from the Triumvirate member gave Aegis another inch of height.  
  
I would throw a hit, Eidolon would dodge and I’d almost hit Aegis. Aegis would get clocked right when I needed him to move. Eidolon would sidestep and be one step ahead of me, kicking my knee out. Kid Win would fire a volley only for Eidolon to move and it to hit one of us instead. Eidolon would bring blood crashing down on one of us, throwing us off balance. Vista tried to get in only to have Eidolon exploit her blind-spot in moments and force her back. A single man was casually running circles around us. He never missed a hit and none of our hits, when they rarely landed, did anything to him.  
  
_The Triumvirate were the strongest because of him. Alexandria, Legend, Hero...Even they couldn’t have pulled off tricks like this. His power is basically unbeatable. _  
  
There was an electronic screech and a familiarly smug voice came from the roof of a neighboring building, “Eidolon, if you could lay off turning them into ground beef for a minute I’d like a word.”  
  
Eidolon paused and we took the opportunity to back off. Pressing the attack wasn’t worth messing up whatever Tattletale had.  
  
Eidolon turned, cocking his head, “Tattletale, was it? You didn’t kill Alexandria, but you lead Ichor here. Why, why should I talk to a villain?”  
  
Tattletale held her hands up, megaphone in one hand, “Worst I’ve ever done is fraud, I’m hardly a villain. Besides, you can’t tell me you really think of yourself as a hero anymore.”  
  
Eidolon frowned, “Of course I do. Everything I’ve done has been to help humanity. You can’t imagine the choices I’ve had to make. No one can.”  
  
She sat on the edge of the opposite roof, “No, but I can get an idea. Secret conspiracy, abducting people, complicit in the deaths of tens of thousands. Pretty nasty stuff. Not really hero material.”  
  
He folded his arms, “You think I don’t know that already? It’s kept me up for more nights then you’ve been alive. Get to the point, this is boring me.”  
  
She spoke as he half turned away, “Fine, fine. You’re mad, I get it. Your secret little cabal of evil heroes got taken apart and everything seems to suck right now. But here’s the thing, that’s not what set you to try and pulp half the heroes in the city with a black hole. You already thought it wouldn’t work.”  
  
Eidolon snorted, “What gives you that impression? I attended every Endbringer fight, I kept the lowest rate of crime for my jurisdiction. I was doing everything I could.”  
  
She wagged a finger, “Because you think that they don’t need any other secret weapons. They were trying to make a second Eidolon with those experiments. You were an unparalleled success. But you didn’t want a second Eidolon did you?”  
  
He glared at her, “I would consider what you’re saying very carefully.”  
  
Tattletale shrugged, “You could kill me instantly, but that wouldn’t quiet down your own doubts. It wouldn’t be what a hero would do. And that’s the problem. You were always The Hero, weren’t you? The chosen one with nearly unlimited power. So why were they trying to make another, what did they think was wrong with you? Shouldn’t you be enough? You’re Eidolon, the strongest cape in the world!”  
  
Eidolon glowered at her, “It’s not that simple.”  
  
Tattletale held her hands up placatingly, “It never is. But you built your entire identity around being The Hero and your friends doubted you, tried to make another. And now half the Protectorate sees you as a villain. You’re not trying to kill Ichor because she killed Alexandria, you’re fighting her because she represents the idea that you aren’t all that. That you never were. And if you’re not The Hero, then what are you?”  
  
Eidolon stood silently, his head bent down.  
  
She continued, “It would mean you’re not special. That your justification for every crime you did was based in the false notion that your ego was fucking big enough to swallow up. You’re not The Hero from a story, you’re the guy who lets his screwed up ego do the driving and ends up being stopped by an actual hero. Not a villain, but worse, a perversion of a hero. You’re not going to save the world Eidolon and the moment you accept that, you’ll stop feeling like a piece of shit twenty-four seven.”  
  
His shoulders sagged and heaved sporadically.  
  
Tattletale stood up, “You want to be a hero? You know what you need to do. Go back to your roots. Look at yourself, really look at yourself. Find the hero that you lost somewhere along the way and bring him back. Redeem yourself.”  
  
Everything was quiet as the sounds of fighting below floated muffled through the air. None of us moved for fear of disrupting whatever spell Tattletale had weaved around Eidolon’s psyche. Ten seconds passed, then twenty. Eidolon floated off into the air and away from New York, disappearing as he became a smaller and smaller dot in the sky.  
  
Tattletale sat on her rear heavily and let out a relieved sigh, “Phew! I really thought that wouldn’t work a few times. I wasn’t sure if the whole hero complex bullshit went deep enough to actually get him to give up or not. You guys are fucking lucky he’s bought that ‘seek out your roots’ BS or we’d be fuuuuucked.”  
  
Everyone relaxed, shoulders slouching in relief. I realized Eidolon hadn’t entirely been trying to kill us. Sure, he would’ve given an opening, but he had also been drawing it out. He was an emotional wreck and he saw himself as a failed hero. Heroes didn’t win against the big bad in a single blow, but through a slog against their nemesis. Beating us down, drawing it out, it was all part of how he saw himself. Maybe it was part of his power? He was given what he needed, so maybe that meant his power could go so far as to give him powers that would help him vent his grief without destroying his own psyche. But there was no way his powers could’ve known that singularity wouldn’t just kill us all. I was overthinking things, I needed to focus on the present.  
  
Vista spoke up, “We should get moving, half of Manhattan will be wrecked if we don’t do something soon.”  
  
Kid Win sighed, “What can we do? There’s no way the Protectorate can come back after something like this. It’s going to be all over the internet by now.”  
  
Aegis folded his arms, slowly shrinking back down, “It’ll be difficult, that’s for certain…”  
  
I straightened my back and started to walk towards the edge of the roof, “Then we shouldn’t waste any more time. Coming?”  
  
I heard Clockblocker chuckle and Vista replied, “Duh. Not like we have anything better to do.”  
  
Tattletale waved from the other roof, “I’m gonna make myself scarce. Won’t help your cause much to have a villain there.”  
  
I held up a hand to stop her, “No. Aegis, grab Tattletale and go get Parian. If we want this to work we have to show people that we’re better than the Protectorate. We’ll be more transparent and more inclusive. Having a rogue and a villain with us will reinforce that.”  
  
A voice popped up out of nowhere, “Can I come too?”  
  
Everyone snapped to face the owner and at least three people asked, “Who are you?”  
  
The girl smiled, “I’m, uh...the friendly neighborhood imp.”  
  
I raised a brow, “You’re the girl who showed up at the start of our fight with Eidolon.”  
  
She gave a double thumbs up, “Yup. Hurt like a bitch by the way.” She pantomimed, “Thank you for your sacrifice.” Replying to herself, “Not a prob, just lemme join your crew.”  
  
Aegis glowered, “Why do you want to join?”  
  
The strange girl shrugged, “New powers, no family, no friends, nowhere to go. Protectorate is in the middle of exploding-”  
  
“Imploding.” Tattletale corrected.  
  
“-Yeah that. So I figured, you guys seemed nice. Saved my ass from Bonesaw. Got a better idea?”  
  
Dennis sat on his floating hoverboard, “Well it’s not like we can recommend the Wards anymore.”  
  
I waved them off, “Let her come. We’re not turning away someone with nowhere else to go. And get the others, like I said.”  
  
Clockblocker spoke with a tinge of doubt, “You sure? Part of why people got pissed is that the Triumvirate wasn’t as pure as they thought.”  
  
I countered, “Exactly. We all know that we needed villains to help with the Endbringers and other S Class threats. What we were upset about was that Alexandria was hiding things. Everyone knows humanity can’t survive without banding together, but when you do that cloak and dagger bullshit it pisses people off. If we’re open about it, show people what we’re doing and why, it just might work.”  
  
I shrugged, holding the bloody scissor blade up, “Besides, can’t get much worse at this point.”  
  
Clockblocker laughed sharply, “The Triumvirate is disbanded, the Protectorate is collapsing, New York is being torn apart by the largest cape fight in history, half the world probably sees us as villains, and our best plan is based on hoping people appreciate honesty…”  
  
He snorted, “Fuck it, why not?”  
  



	27. Chapter 18: Into the Night

### Chapter 18: Into the Night

  
  
We came down as a united front. I took the center, Konketsu still in his full glory and my blood cloak wrapped around my back. It was easier to make a cape work when it wasn’t actually attached to you. My friends flanked me, still battle ready. Kid Win and Vista on the left, Aegis and Clockblocker on the right. From there, we had our various partners, allies, and misfits. Tattletale and Accord stood to the left, Parian and her constructs to the right. I wished we had a second rogue to balance out Accord’s unplanned inclusion, he had been insistent, but we’d have to make due. My brain paused for a moment_ ah, that’s right, we also have that Stranger. Keeping an eye on her is going to be a pain...maybe we should get her an armband or something._  
  
The court where the fight had broken out was mostly empty, having been savaged by two dozen some different powers at the same time. _Probably more if you count our fight with Eidolon._ The sounds of fighting were still loud from the main street, which was where Tattletale reported the bulk to have moved. There were half a dozen smaller satellite fights, but we had to start at the biggest and work our way out. The rest would fold when they saw. _Or I’ll make them fold._  
  
Kid Win idly observed out loud, “Alexandria and Bonesaw’s bodies aren’t here.”  
  
Clockblocker squirmed, “Do you think she’s really dead?”  
  
Tattletale chimed in from the opposite side, “95% certain. She’s like a statue, her body can’t change. That also means it can’t heal. I’m not aware of many people who can keep going with their heart and lungs eviscerated, but I don’t think she can.”  
  
Kid Win quirked a brow over his shades, “And Bonesaw’s?”  
  
Tattletale shrugged, “Could be anywhere. Someone might’ve destroyed it, it could’ve been sucked into that singularity and crushed, who knows? Frankly, I’m glad we don’t have to see her again.”  
  
Accord remarked flatly, “No one is dead until you have the body.”  
  
Everyone paused at that, except Aegis who was nodding sagely. I was only slightly worried about the potential there for a budding friendship, but it would be fine. Accord, despite having a penchant for murder, was actually one of the most reformable villains in my opinion. He wanted to do good, he just had a crippling disorder that made him impatient when stonewalled. And the Protectorate had been very good at stonewalling people. It wasn’t hard to see how he had given up on cooperation and simply gone for direct application. _Possibly because that’s exactly what I did, but with more success._  
  
As we walked out to the street, my eyes quickly took in the scene. It was easy to tell them apart. The one side was over half Case 53s, clearly beleaguered and suffering from the blows being laid on them but fighting with tenacity still. The other side was filled with heroes in gleaming costumes with pearly white teeth and styled hair. It wasn’t quite so obvious, if perhaps a bystander had commented, but to me it looked exactly like that. Experience in the Protectorate had taught me how the PR friendly capes looked, how they were styled and held themselves. There was no surprise in me upon seeing the side lead by Bullet to be mostly comprised of them.  
  
_Damn it. This won’t be easy._  
  
I tried to evaluate how to best stop hostilities and grab their attention. The Blasters were still making a raucous with their beams and projectiles trading back and forth and the small melee in between would be almost impossible to break up. A show of force with a bit of shock and awe could work, or could just draw fire on us. A diplomatic approach might be too weak to intercept the already heated tensions. I could ask the two Thinkers what they thought, but being villains they were probably of a mind towards domination than unification…  
  
“Hey, everyone shut the fuck up! Eidolon gave up and we won, so sit down and listen!” Clockblocker shouted, having stepped up a few feet.  
  
“Clock, nooooo…” Aegis muttered.  
  
“Oh my g-” From Vista  
  
Snickering from Tattletale and a white knuckled grip on his cane from Accord.  
  
I nearly grabbed Dennis by the back of his neck and threw him. Nearly. But it wouldn’t do for me to be seen beating my team. To his very very slight credit, the battle almost paused in crystalline silence at the sudden news. Capes turned towards us, some curious, some angry, some hopeful, some confused. I took that slow realization to make my move, stepping forward as I shoved Clockblocker back.  
  
“Stop fighting. Alexandria is dead. Eidolon is gone. The Protectorate and the PRT were corrupt, riddled to the core with abuses of power and negligence. They are no more. They will not survive today, the death of the Triumvirate and the footage of...this.” I gestured to the broken streets around us, “Will be the end of it. But it doesn’t have to be the end of us as heroes.”  
  
A cape in Bullet’s camp shouted, “How do we know you beat Eidolon? No one can beat him!”  
  
Aegis handled my defense, “If Eidolon hadn’t given up, do you think he would’ve let us come over here to have a chat? No. The fight is over.”  
  
I nodded slightly, “The only thing left to decide is how you’re going to handle what comes next. I’m not going to stop. The Protectorate has to pay for what it did. It cannot be trusted, it never could be. But the world still needs heroes. The Endbringers won’t stop just because we have. Whatever’s left of Cauldron won’t stop. Injustice against Case 53s, supervillains across the country like the Fallen, and other S-Class threats won’t stop for us. So my team and I will be continuing to work to protect the world.”  
  
I gestured to everyone flanking me for emphasis. They needed to know what I stood for. Why they should side with a teenage girl who had just killed or driven off two thirds of the Triumvirate. They needed to understand exactly how much was at stake if we were to make progress fucking finally.  
  
“Heroes, villains, and independents alike. Cooperating where it matters, to ensure humanity isn’t wiped out, to protect against abuses like Cauldron from occurring again. We’ve always had to work together, Endbringer fights have more villains sometimes than heroes and that’s no secret. We can’t afford to wage stupid PR wars against each other, to play cops and robbers, or nurse secret conspiracies. You all saw those visions. Humanity is fighting a war and it’s losing.”  
  
“We’re going to do our best to change that. Anyone who wants to help us is welcome to join.”  
  
I let my speech stop. I had kept that confidence, that poise up through the end. It had worked, because I had believed every word of it. I wasn’t going to let another corrupt authority abuse their power. I wasn’t going to let what happened to me ever happen again. More than that, I had seen the hints of how we were losing the long war in those visions. I had figured out the implication that Cauldron must not be succeeding since they were clearly still looking for solutions. Something desperately needed to change. I didn’t know how long we had left, but we couldn’t last forever like this.  
  
The half I figured I could count on started to shift. I saw Foil step out of the backline of Brood’s group, her large crossbow-like weapon broken and thrown to the side. I smiled lightly, she had stood by me before when I needed and she was the first to join now. She’d be a good candidate for an officer I could trust. _ Shit, if I’m going to run a giant cape organization I’ll need officers. Not just officers, but an entire structure. I wonder if Accord’s power works for figuring out efficient management that’s resistant to corruption? Worth a shot._  
  
More capes started to come over after Foil broke the floodgates, pretty much all of Brood’s side was coming or limping over. A few had to be carried by their friends and teammates. From the blood stains on the pavement, I had the sickly feeling that there might have been more on their side before. There were fierce, quieted conversations happening among Bullet’s people. Some came over rather quickly, while others debated in a small circle with their teams. It was better than I expected. I had expected accusations, probably even a fight. _ I suppose appearing to beat Eidolon is worth something._  
  
My observations were broken by the sound of an explosion. Bullet had powered up, despite favoring one leg strongly, and in an instant exploded at me. I got to see why he was named Bullet: his power was to explode and propel in a given direction like a bullet. He hurtled through the air at me, scorching some of his own allies as he blazed past. I didn’t bother to react.  
  
Vista warped space before me and suddenly Aegis was standing there, right in Bullet’s path. Bullet crashed into Aegis’ open arms, sending Aegis sliding back. Aegis translated the momentum into some sort of suplex, bending back and slamming Bullet into the pavement. Clockblocker stepped over and tapped Bullet, who was clearly unconscious anyway. A set of drones dropped down and erected a Tinkertech barrier over his frozen form.  
  
Aegis folded his arms, “Not a chance in hell.”  
  
The rest of Bullet’s group fragmented. A few teams came over to us but the bulk split up into individual teams and left. We were easily over forty capes strong, which put my newly minted team as the strongest in the country next to the Protectorate or the Fallen. If I could just get a few of the other teams from the remaining fights and then get word out,everything might just work.  
  
We’d need a lot of things. Structure, a base, money, support, organization, probably lawyers unless I wanted to also take over the US...The list was practically endless. But as people started to mingle and settle down around me, I looked around. The street was destroyed, craters from impacts, frozen streaks from a Blaster, a slagged car, chunks missing from the surrounding buildings. Even still, this was the start of a new era...  
  
  


\---

  
  
Parian and I sat at a table across from each other. She had prepared tea as always and I fingered the steaming cup in front of me idly. She had grown less nervous and now sat with a quiet confidence. The sounds of work thrummed in the background on the other side of the large glass panel by which we sat.  
  
I stirred the milk into my tea, “So, what can you tell me about it?”  
  
Parian paused slightly, glancing through the glass, “I’m only a Tinker in name, I don’t really get the bulk of it, but we were almost certain that Bonesaw didn’t make this. While she could use your Tinkertech, she wasn’t capable of producing more. Armsmaster theorized that was why she brought Leet on board. He made this...core, if you will, that generates more life fibers. The core can generate life fibers, which we think she had some sort of plan for.”  
  
Laying the spoon to the side, “And do we have confirmation?”  
  
Parian shook her head, “Leet is confirmed, but Bonesaw isn’t still. Spire seemed optimistic about the chances of her surviving being very low, but no. No confirmation.”  
  
I sighed, “Accord was right. We have to work under the assumption she’s still alive until we have proof.”  
  
Parian simply nodded along to that. I took a sip of my tea. It was frustrating that neither Alexandria’s or Bonesaw’s body had been recovered. Alexandria I was fairly sure was dead. She wouldn’t have sat back and watched us tear down the Protectorate if she were capable of fighting still. And with her powers, she was either capable or dead. As for Bonesaw...she was more insidious. It was perfectly possible she was laying in wait if she survived. It was also very possible she had simply died. In the end, no one was immortal. Not Crawler, not Alexandria.  
  
I gestured to Parian to continue, “And of the other projects?”  
  
Parian pulled out a sheath of papers and put them between us, “We have the material definitely. If we use the data and designs we had for your team, I think we could outfit most of the organization within two years. More or less depending on how much help I have.”  
  
I raised my eyebrows, “All at 30%?”  
  
Parian wiggled her hand, “Maybe. 30% is a lot for someone, but these are all capes. Most of them have lived tough lives, so they can handle higher stress than say civilians. Speaking of, we can have the non-powered staff outfitted with basic 10% uniforms fairly easily, it requires a lot less finesse.”  
  
My hand waved dismissively, “I’ll trust your word on that. I’m sure it’s a Tinker thing.”  
  
Parian frowned, “I keep telling everyone I’m not a Tinker.”  
  
I smiled a little, “That won’t work when you’re running the biggest Tinkertech workshop in the organization.”  
  
Parian’s shoulders dropped a bit, “I know.” She composed herself and went on, “Is that timeline okay?”  
  
I took another sip of tea as I muddled it over, “I’ll see about getting you more help for the 30% uniform production. I’d like to get us outfitted within a year.”  
  
Parian’s mouth grew thin, “A year…? That’s awfully fast.”  
  
I put the cup back down, “I know, but we don’t have time to build up. Speed will be our advantage. If you can’t, you can’t. I’ll give you as much as we can spare, make your best with it.”  
  
Parian gave a solid single nod, “I’ll try my best.”  
  
I looked through the glass to the pulsating core of life fibers quarantined on the other side.  
  
“And the second project?”  
  
Parian hesitated, “Well...Konketsu seems to be able to absorb life fibers to increase his power. If I can narrow down exactly what fibers count for that, we could...in theory...give him a power boost.”  
  
I put out an open hand, “How much are we talking about? Are there any risks?”  
  
Parian flipped through her sheaf, “No risks that we’ve noticed so far...as for how much, I’m not sure. I don’t know if he has a limit for how much he can absorb. It’s something we’d only find out in time.”  
  
I hummed, nodding, “I’ll tell Spire to help you out with that and run it by Konketsu. Don’t do anything that might hurt Konketsu. If you’re unsure, call me. I’ll have Accord handle increasing your manpower and coordinating the lab time. He should get back to you before the end of the day. That sound good?”  
  
Parian put the sheaf down with a look of relief, “Yes Ma'a-er, Ichor.”  
  
I raised an eyebrow, “What was that about?”  
  
Parian blushed somehow despite a full face mask, “Nothing. It’s just been a bit of a bit of a nickname that’s been going around. Ma'am, that is. Because you run everything with an iron hand, kind of like a general or drill sergeant. And people have a kind of awe and respect for you. I think Tattletale started it.”  
  
_Throwing her colleagues under the bus. Harsh Parian._  
  
I smirked ever so slightly, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve had much worse nicknames. Tattletale almost certainly didn’t mean it respectfully though.”  
  
Parian shuffled awkwardly in her seat and I stood up, turning to hide a smile. It was nice to have friends. Not just my team from the Wards, but I considered Foil and Tattletale friends as well. Even Armsmaster. Having so many people who respected me, who I could call friends was satisfying. It was a hole I knew had been there during my time at Winslow, but I still found the time to appreciate it every day that it was filled. I would do my best for all of them and I knew they would follow me implicitly.  
  
I paused, “Oh, how’s your shop back in Boston doing? I know you didn’t want to just close it down entirely.”  
  
Parian perked up slightly, “Oh, Jack has taken over fittings and most of the duties of the shop. I still try to drop by, but honestly Jack and Theodore are dears. They practically run the place themselves these days.”  
  
I picked my sword up from where it rested against the wall, “That’s good to hear. I wish we didn’t need to pull you away so much, but there’s no one else who can do it.”  
  
Parian glowed a little under the praise, “I don’t mind. It feels good to do something more than just make dresses for rich people. It feels like I’m finally making an impact.”  
  
  


\---

  
  
I gritted my teeth at the screen in front of us. Slamming my hand down on the keyboard, the display cut out, evoking a gasp from the rest of the room. I stood up, hands clenched in fists by my side.  
  
“The United States wants to fight us? Fine. We will show them how the eagle soars. The Protectorate is crippled and bleeding members. We grow stronger by the day. A united front must be formed before the next Endbringer attack.”  
  
Weld frowned, his metal visage surprisingly emotive, “Do you think we can really take on the entire country? They have an agreement with the Guild to boot.”  
  
Armsmaster waved his hand dismissively, “I’ve spoken with Dragon, the Guild is considering Alexandria’s actions sufficient cause for them to stay out of this conflict. It’ll just be us and the remaining Protectorate and PRT forces.”  
  
I nodded, “We have more members than the Protectorate at this point. The PRT may be rallying, but at the end of the day they were never the real muscle.”  
  
Weld looked unhappy but shrugged, “If you say so. I can’t help but hesitate a bit at fighting the government, but…”  
  
He left unsaid what everyone else was thinking. The PRT had doubled down in Alexandria and Eidolon’s absence, denying all guilt and casting us as a faction trying a coup for power. Not entirely inaccurate in that we did want to dismantle them. Armamster’s siding with us had been fortuitous, especially given the sheer amount of whistle blowing evidence that he had brought with him.  
  
Not everyone had come with us. Miss Militia still worked for the Protectorate, as did Ursa despite her earlier misgivings. Cache had retired entirely to avoid it. He was far from the only one to opt out entirely. There were more independent heroes now than any time before in history. Villain numbers had actually remained fairly stable. New villains had formed, but we had managed to recruit a fair number who felt the Protectorate had forced them into it. The Elite, for one, had started out as a group of rogues initially and we had made progress in wooing them back. Accord and Tattletale were a massive boon on that front, helping build bridges I never could.  
  
Accord, speak of the devil, was talking, “...to that end, we’ll need a base of operations. Anywhere we claim would essentially be territory of some sovereign power, so it’s more a matter of which one we want to offend. We have enough firepower that only the CUI and Protectorate could pose any major resistance to a claim.”  
  
Foil spoke tentatively, “What about New York? It’s where this all started.”  
  
I shook my head, “No, millions live there. I don’t want to pull a bunch of civilians into the epicenter of a conflict.”  
  
Aegis raised a brow, “Are there any islands that could work? Something small and unclaimed perhaps?”  
  
Tattletale snorted, “You think there’s unclaimed land left near the US coast in this day and age? You’d have better luck beating the Simurgh at roulette. We’re best just taking somewhere strategic from the US. We need to be close anyway to fight the Protectorate.”  
  
Foil questioned, “Are we fighting them? Between what Armsmaster and Prism released when they left, they won’t be around for long.”  
  
Accord answered curtly, “They will come after us. It’s their only chance to reclaim power and if they haven’t backed down by now, they won’t.”  
  
Armsmaster inclined his head slightly, “I’m forced to agree. Most of the members left are the hardliners. They’ll see and treat us like villains because anything less would cause too much cognitive dissonance for them to handle. We should operate on the assumption that the Protectorate and US government consider us enemies.”  
  
Clockblocker snickered, “Doesn’t help that Ichor just hung up on them mid-call.”  
  
I grumbled, “I’m done playing word games and that’s all they were doing. They didn’t set up that meeting intending to come to a compromise. We wasted enough time.”  
  
Accord nodded almost greedily, though maintaining his perfect composure, “Agreed. It’s revitalizing to finally work with someone who sees the need for action. That said, the issue of our center of operations is still undecided.”  
  
Everyone around the room started to brainstorm. I saw the metaphorical beards grow as Wards and experienced capes alike stroked their chins in thought. It was certainly a tough nut to crack. We simultaneously had too many options and too few, meaning that nothing actually looked good.  
  
“We could take D.C., it would send them scrambling-”  
  
“That’s far too aggressive, we want to be seen by the public as rooting out corruption, not starting a coup.”  
  
“We should avoid clashing with the government as much as possible. If the Protectorate falls apart then they may be willing to re-open negotiations. If we fight them outright now, we risk closing that option off.”  
  
“Boston? I know Accord was based out of there, so we have some infrastructure.”  
  
“It’s a port city, but it puts us far from the west coast, we’d have a hard time if the Protectorate digs in around California or Las Vegas.”  
  
“Well we can’t set up in fucking Topeka, no one would even take us seriously. Plus that place is ass.”  
  
“Language, Tattletale.”  
  
“No, we’ll be stuck on a coast no matter what. Most major cities are on water.”  
  
“Why a major city? We could build our own base.”  
  
“No infrastructure then. We’d need road access, electricity, water, sewage, internet, phone...so many things would need to be set up.”  
  
“Would the government let us have electricity off their grid anyway? We did declare war on a branch of the US government by attacking the PRT.”  
  
“Geez, this is a lot to sort through. I didn’t realize it would be this much work…”  
  
“War is won through logistics, my dear.”  
  
“Well it’s not impossible. We have a massive roster of capes. Surely we can get basic power generators and infrastructure set up. We have at least a dozen Tinkers.”  
  
“Unofficially I can ask Dragon for assistance as well. She’s very sympathetic to our cause, albeit restricted in how much she can help.”  
  
“That’d be great Armsmaster, thanks. It might just work. We should future-proof too. Wherever we set up, if we play our cards right, will get a massive economic boom after we establish ourselves as the new power.”  
  
A few ideas connected suddenly in my mind and I held a hand up.  
  
“Brockton Bay.”  
  
People paused from the energetic, if disorganized discussion that had been occurring. Dad had always wanted to revitalize the city. Unfortunately it was deader than ever, having been condemned and abandoned after Leviathan. But if we could rebuild, it could bring the city back from its ashes. Not just that, but we wouldn’t be bringing a large civilian population into harm’s way. There was plenty of raw material and some salvageable infrastructure. It was a chance to build good will too. Not all the refugees were sorted yet. We could offer people a way back, relieving stress and creating good will, which we’d need in spades.  
  
Tattletale hummed, “It could work. The government abandoned it, so while they still own it, it’s a bit more PR friendly than commandeering a city they want.”  
  
Accord tapped his cane, “It has substantial potential as a nexus for east coast wide revitalization. A bit more resource intensive than the original plan accounted for, but we can make it work.”  
  
Vista spoke up, “It’d be nice to see the city come back.”  
  
Armsmaster smiled as he clearly had a thought he liked, “We know the lay of the land better than anyone. I know just how to reinforce it.”  
  
Clockblocker shrugged, “What land? It’s mostly underwater, but with enough Tinker bullshit I’m sure we can send it to Africa or something. Besides, it’s probably nicer now than it was before.”  
  
Vista warped the floor to send Clock stumbling as people murmured in general agreement.  
  
I looked out the window, “It’s decided then. We’ll rebuild Brockton Bay as our base. Kid, work with Accord and Tattletale on supplies and logistics. Weld, take care of informing the various teams that we’ll be meeting there, tell them to bring any gear they can. Armsmaster, organize the Tinkers please. We’ll need them cooperating and not running a dozen different projects.”  
  
“Looks like we’re going home.”  
  


  
\---

  
  
“Simurgh descending over Toronto! Dragon just relayed satellite readings to us.” Prism shouted from the console.  
  
Everyone in the room dropped what they were doing. Conversations went silent and eyes turned towards Prism who looked at us helplessly.  
  
Chevalier muttered, “It’s only been two months. She’s early.”  
  
Armsmaster was quickly typing at his custom console station, “This breaks every prediction we have. It’s not even close to being on time with previous attack cycles.”  
  
I waved my arm across the room, “Sound the alarm. Get everyone who is on active duty ready. We’re moving out in twenty minutes sharp.”  
  
People started to rush, hurrying out of the room. A siren started to sound throughout the base, muffled inside the command center since we didn’t need to hear it. Armsmaster got up and walked over to me. Agnes Court, Citrine, and Chevalier came over as they spotted the impromptu meeting forming.  
  
Armsmaster put a hand on my shoulder, “Are you sure? We don’t know what she plans to do.”  
  
_And we’re still growing and finding our footing, he means._  
  
I folded my arms, “I’m sure. If we’re going to replace the Protectorate, we have to pick up the slack they left. Especially in an emergency like a premature attack. The Guild has been good to us to boot, we can’t leave them to deal with an Endbringer attack on their own.”  
  
Agnes Court chewed her lip, “True. To fail an early ally would poison us for anyone else who might consider backing us over the ailing Protectorate. It’s dangerous, but necessary.”  
  
Chevalier looked back and forth, “The Simurgh is the worst one for us to face right now. I agree that we can’t stay out of this fight, but for all we know she plans to turn us into a timebomb before we can become established.”  
  
Citrine waved Chevalier aside, “Accord has already accounted for such possibilities. As soon as the alarm sounded, precog interference began to run and will continue until several hours after the fight."  
  
Agnes Court countered, “We don’t know if precogs actually interfere with the Simurgh though. It’s a good measure, but it’s far from a guarantee. We should incorporate Protectorate Simurgh protocols as well.”  
  
Armsmaster frowned, “No. The Simurgh is the most powerful precog on the planet. Our protocols have failed against Thinker 9s in the past. If they fail against high level Thinkers in some cases, they almost certainly fail against the Simurgh. It might be good for maintaining a facade of control, but I’m certain that the protocols are flawed.”  
  
I acquiesced to Armsmaster’s argument, “I’m inclined to believe him. Blowing up capes was never my idea of a moral booster anyway. We’ll maintain the exposure limit since Dragon will be running that side, but beyond that we’ll have to do our best to minimize exposure and hope Accord is right.”  
  
Chevalier took his turn to frown, “That’s risky, it might be seen as courting disaster. People believe in the protocols, even if they might be faulty-”  
  
Prism called out from console, “Sighting off the coast of Annapolis, Maryland. Something large. Initial reports suggested Leviathan, but visual data doesn’t match. It’s huge though.”  
  
Armsmaster cursed, “Fuck. A fourth Endbringer?”  
  
Citrine went still and pulled out her smartphone. Most likely texting Accord to appraise him of the sudden shift beyond what he had planned for.  
  
Agnes Court grimaced, “It might be a Case 53.”  
  
Prism shook her head, “If it is, we’re looking at the largest on record by far. Predicted to make landfall in less than ten minutes.”  
  
Chevalier grunted, “If we divide our response, we risk losing both groups. But Annapolis is close to D.C. The government will be in full response to whatever it is that close to the capitol.”  
  
Armsmaster added, “It would be a good chance to build good will. And if this is a new Endbringer or a new Case 53, data is important. If all our information is second hand we risk important details being withheld.”  
  
I sighed, “This is probably the plan isn’t it? The Simurgh is splitting our forces so that we can’t respond adequately to either threat.”  
  
Citrine nodded as she returned to the fold, “It’s likely. The Simurgh is known for her long term planning and divide and conquer is a fundamentally sound tactic. Accord suggests Ichor and her team deploy to Annapolis and all other teams deploy to Toronto.”  
  
Chevalier balked, “Only the five of them?”  
  
Citrine nodded, less patiently on being pressed, “Yes. They work well as a unit and have high durability and versatility. Ichor herself is capable of tying an Endbringer up for several minutes alone. She’s also untested against the Simurgh, we don’t know if she shares Alexandria’s invulnerability to her song. Since Ichor is essentially irreplaceable as the charismatic force behind our movement, Accord thinks it best to keep her away from the Simurgh. The Simurgh likely wants us to split up, so by dedicating all our forces to one battle we can at least win one rather than lose both. Additionally, Ichor can likely hold in Annapolis if Toronto ends up being a feint long enough for us to re-deploy.”  
  
Chevalier took a moment, exhaling loudly, “Yeah, it makes sense. I don’t like sending them with no back-up, but it’s tactical. Can’t that man ever be wrong about these things?”  
  
Citrine replied deadpan, “No.”  
  
Chevalier rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, “That okay with you?”  
  
I had already thought it over as Citrine explained. It made sense to me, it was certainly the most tactical solution I could think of. Accord was working over-time to organize the logistics of our entire operation and he was invested in seeing us succeed. I trusted him, surprisingly, to not stab me in the back if out of nothing but self interest. He needed me, I was the one who had backed him when everyone else had written him off.  
  
I picked up my scissor-blade, “I’ll get the team and head out immediately. Keep my updated of how Toronto is going.”  
  
Armsmaster put a hand on my arm, “And us, of Annapolis. Be safe.”  
  
  


\---

  
  
Aegis shouted out from somewhere behind me, “Taylor, fall back! We can’t risk losing you.”  
  
Buildings smoldered around me as I looked at the arrayed capes. They were all dressed identically, though color coded somehow, and had formed three groups in a semi-circle around me. The entire block had been levelled in the last barrage and I wasn’t sure how I’d contain the damage from the next one. I was being pushed back towards our base, but we had too many wounded there from the last Endbringer attack, I couldn’t risk their infiltration.  
  
Konketsu spoke lowly, “There’s too many of them. I don’t think we can handle forty capes.”  
  
I muttered, “I know that, but what other choice do we have?”  
  
Konketsu replied grimly, “The Elite Four are getting worn down, they don’t have our stamina. They simply have too many powers.”  
  
I clenched my fists, “They broke the Truce, they killed our people. If I back down now, we’ll break.”  
  
Konketsu sighed, “Possibly. But if you die, it’s guaranteed. You can’t take every risk yourself.”  
  
I spat, pumping blood down my legs, “I know. I know. The plan’s almost ready though.”  
  
I could feel Konketsu shrug, the fabric sliding against me gently, “I know I can’t talk you out of trying it, so I’ll just protect you the best I can.”  
  
“Thanks partner.”  
  
With that, I zipped into motion. The Yangban were just waiting for me to make the first move. I saw the air shimmer as the forcefield went up to close me in and I dove feet first at it. A surge of power coursed through Konketsu and I felt my legs buckle a little as I smashed through the shield,prismatic shards scattering everywhere. The Yangban scattered before I could dive into them, a shout in Chinese I was becoming increasingly familiar with signalled two dozen beams springing out from either side for me.  
  
I bounced off the ground, twisting through the air. I moved too fast for them to hit, but the beams filled the sky even so. With a flare from Konketsu I hurtled towards the other group, only to have them teleport out of my way and feel the tug of vacuum spheres on my body where they had been. Lasers cut across the field, one cutting into my back by lucky chance. They had me surrounded on all three sides and were filling the air above me with slow moving spheres of energy. The roof was steadily lowering, I only had a few seconds before movement would become all but impossible.  
  
I dashed forward, throwing a fist as a forcefield came up in front of me, shattering it only to hit another. The second shattered, as did the third, but my fist stopped at the fourth. Another barrier pressed against me from behind and I swung out, causing it to collapse. My sword sheared through another seven at least, clearing the path behind me. I heard the familiar shout that meant lasers and had nowhere to run.  
  
A barrage of lasers cut into me and I grunted, stifling the scream that wanted to escape. _They are going to ruin everything. I won’t let them. I refuse. _ I felt my body regenerating from the marks scored across me that still sizzled from heat. Blood poured out of me and let myself laugh a bit. The Yangban fired another barrage and I laughed more as it cut into me, idly absorbing a few shots with my blade.  
  
I shouted, “You fucked up.”  
  
"Language!" I heard for a moment from the distance. I had almost forgotten Imp again.  
  
They didn’t pause, I saw them prepare for a third barrage. I wasn’t sure why I had expected them to pause to listen. They hadn’t tried to speak to us once since they attacked. Before they could fire, the ground beneath the entire block collapsed. I knew they could fly and teleport, which was why as soon as the ground splintered huge tendrils of blood lashed through their ranks, slamming them apart. Their mistake had been letting me draw the fight out this long.  
  
_Leviathan taught me a few tricks, however._  
  
A wave of blood barrelled down the street and crashed over them even as they were concerned with the street collapsing beneath them into a blood filled pit. Some managed to teleport out, but I caught the slowest members, pounding them into the pavement with the sound of cracking bones. Some stayed perfectly still, seeming untouched. I drew blood around them, increasingly large orbs that wanted to crush them as soon as they lost whatever protection they had.  
  
Some of the ones I had mauled reversed in time, appearing unharmed again. A few teleported quickly enough, but the rest were crushed by the massive waves of blood that dominated the street. There was not solid ground left, just a raging sea of my own blood that swirled and crashed on anything that moved. I had gotten at least six or seven for sure, possible a couple more that hadn’t managed to reverse or teleport out. I brought the weight of the blood crashing down into the mini-aquifer I had dug out.  
  
It had been a plan I had a week ago, but hadn’t had time to start until recently. I was funneling blood daily down into the ground, keeping it under the base. As long as I didn’t leave the base, I could keep it within my range and control. That meant I essentially had a massive hidden reservoir I could call up at will. Unfortunately, I did have to leave. For the second Endbringer attack in four months. So they had caught me with a depleted reservoir, but the capacity had been there.  
  
The blood swirled in a massive whirlpool down into the ground, carrying the broken bodies of the Yangban I had caught. Killing left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I wouldn’t have changed anything. They had attacked us while we were wounded, killed people under my command, and refused all attempts at communication. No, there was holding blows anymore. I would make them regret ever touching us if I had to root out every last parahuman they had.  
  
I felt my head start to ache at the sheer amount of blood I was controlling. It wasn’t exactly a hard limit, but I hadn’t slept in over 36 hours and I was at the upper end of my powers. I knew I couldn’t pull this trick for long in my current state.  
  
I looked down, “You okay Konketsu?”  
  
The kamui panted, “I’m holding together. I’m used to not being easy to cut, but they seemed to be able to get past that.”  
  
I snorted, “Yeah. We’ll get you a nice washing and hand ironing by Parian. I’m sure that’ll help you feel better.”  
  
Konketsu practically preened, “She’s the best! Everyone needs as much respect for clothing as she has.”  
  
We were interrupted by Kid Win flying in. He was battered looking, most of his tech broken or worn. It was part of why I had told them to fall back in the first place.  
  
“Are they gone?”  
  
I nodded, “Yeah, for now. Get Chevalier, tell him we’re putting together a pursuit party. I want them off this continent, one way or the other.”  
  
Kid bit his lip but nodded, “Sure thing. Wanna ride back? I’m sure you don’t need it, but I figur-”  
  
I pulled myself up onto the hoverboard, as Kid wiggled to maintain balance. “No, it would be nice. Thanks Chris.”  
  
We flew in silence for the first bit, leaving behind the block that I had devastated. The flight towards headquarters was slow, but the gleaming dome of the force field gave us an easy beacon to gauge our progress by.  
  
After a while Chris spoke, “What’ll we do now?”  
  
I sat on the edge, my feet dangling off, “I’ll call the Guild, the Suits, the Elite, and the King’s Men. The Yangban broke the Truce, I don’t want them to be able to find shelter anywhere. I don’t know if this was just a prelude to the CUI trying an invasion, but we’re going to pressure them hard and fast. They’re going to bleed for this.”  
  
Chris swallowed his anxiety, “Do you think there’ll be war?”  
  
I shook my head slowly, “I don’t know.”  
  
  


\---

  
  
I groaned, “We need how many crates of domino masks?”  
  
Accord shrugged ever so slightly, “Keeping over a dozen teams suited up when they’re constantly fighting is a significant expense. Speaking of which, have you reviewed by budgetary plan?”  
  
I pulled up a thick sheaf of papers and placed them on the desk. I had spent most of a night reading through the plan, knowing Accord would be eager to get one of his first major proposals through. After all, he would want to make sure we were better on our word than the Protectorate.  
  
“I have. Overall, I approve.” I saw him tense at that. No doubt expecting me to pick it apart and weasel out of it.  
  
“But?” He asked simply.  
  
“But, I’m uncertain as to why you allocated a 15% buffer. I don’t see it as a bad thing, just as the head I have to understand the reason behind each of our decisions.” I had prepared the question specifically for him. I knew he was still a flight risk and drawing out that lingering doubt and then proving it unneeded would be the best way to reassure him.  
  
Accord paused and a small smile came out, “Ah, of course. I’ll make certain to annotate future discretionary changes I make. As for that 15%, I used a combination of public financial records for the Protectorate, which were inaccurate as expected, along with our projected growth after the initial recruitment spree settles, accommodated for market uncertainty, and then compared it with a few models provided by Dragon. I know we’ve worked together for some time now, but I appreciate a leader taking care to keep track of the details.”  
  
_Hook, line, and sinker. _ It wasn’t that I didn’t care about the details, but Accord was a simple problem in many ways. He had straightforward needs and values, which he was very stringent on. His power scaled with a problem’s complexity, making him fantastic at large organization management. His power also liked to provide murder as a solution due to it being economical and direct.  
  
The trick had been to gain his respect and shape the challenge in such a way that murder would be less efficient. By forcing him to model the after-effects of killing team members on organizational efficiency and leveraging his respect to have him re-model continuously to fit within acceptable bounds we finally had usable plans out of him. Nothing about destroying 23 countries to solve world hunger. But we did have plans to solve poverty in the continental US within a decade, which was both reasonable and fairly low on murder. Apparently a few politicians just really had to go. I hadn’t approved of it, especially since all our major actions had to be transparent. It was still under revision, but very close to being workable.  
  
I put my hands out palms up, “Naturally I agree. As for funds, I know we’re working off a combination of private investors until we can establish more permanent revenue sources. How’s the timeline for that progressing?”  
  
Accord thinned his lips slightly, “Slowly. The US government would be the primary goal, as their funding of the Protectorate allowed for them to maintain their large size. There are large discrepancies in their numbers after the leaks, which suggests Cauldron had been supplementing their budget substantially. We’ll fill that gap through private investment. Both the Elite and myself have substantial legitimate business portfolios that can supplement us.”  
  
I chewed my lip, “And would that work out legally? I know we’re not overly fond of the law considering all that the government’s done over the last few months, but we need to keep the public on our side. Illegal funding would be an easy mark against us.”  
  
Accord nodded towards a folder, “The legal aspect is being handled. I don’t anticipate it being a problem. Our main challenge is securing government cooperation. Fortunately the breakdown of negotiations with the CUI works in our favor.”  
  
I flipped through the legal folder, trying to skim what I could vaguely grasp, “True, it makes securing parahuman defense a priority for the US. Any viable alternatives?” I groaned internally. Playing politics was something I hated, but it had to be done on occasion. For the most part I had outsourced that duty to our resident Thinkers. They loved the excuse to go ham. However, as the face of our movement I occasionally had to show up in person to things.  
  
The perfectly dressed cape placed a folder before me, "Yes. I spoke with Parian and we've concluded that a fashion line could be fairly profitable. Tinkertech always gets an exaggerated price."  
  
I raised my eyebrow carefully, "Sell life fibers to the masses? I assume you've thought it out, so go ahead."  
  
Accord continued, pleased, "We have the standard 10% fabric for non-parahuman personnel which we've observed to work with minimal side effects. A lower fiber composition could be advertised as featuring the same tech as the premiere hero organization in the country. The mild protective effect would be less than even the lowest Brute, but still have the allure of safety combined with celebrity appeal. Parian's expertise can make sure the designs are also suitably fashionable to ensure solid sales. Unlikely to be turned against us, since your tech is inscrutable to most Tinkers and would be in present only in trace amounts. Selling Tinkertech _was_ heavily regulated, but with the collpase of the Protectorate, many new policy changes are possible. Take time to review the charter I've written up."  
  
Accord waited patiently and I closed the folder of papers, the heavy stack making a thump as it closed. I didn’t even know how he managed to write and print this much so quickly. Probably taking time from a Tinker.  
  
“Alright, I’ll look over it one more time later and let you know if anything else needs discussion. You can start putting the basics in place.”  
  
Accord gave a polite nod and small smile, the smile I had come to associate with him being happy to be let off the leash and free to enact his grandiose plans. More often than not, they worked. There was a reason he had controlled Boston’s crime scene for years, the man was competent. When given an environment where he wasn’t constantly having his OCD prodded and had sufficient resources, he was a downright asset.  
  
As Accord made his way out, I looked at the massive project still left before me. I knew running an organization wouldn’t be easy, but it was amazing the sheer number of details that needed sorting out. Even with help from half a dozen Thinkers and former Protectorate members, the work threatened to drown me. Chevalier had been reluctant to turncoat and held some misgivings, but he knew his way around a bureaucracy well. Dragon had smoothed over a lot of Tinkering issues, helping Armsmaster coordinate the Tinkers. Accord had done wonders keeping logistics from collapsing catastrophically. Weld and Foil were jointly in charge of the junior teams and were a good example of cooperative leadership.  
  
And then there was my own Elite Four. The nickname had stuck after our first few engagements and how they stuck together in battle. Not to mention they were effective enough as a unit to challenge even experienced cape teams, as the Houston team learned. They didn’t have many administrative duties, being both young and unsuited to them. Dennis would’ve slacked off at paperwork, Chris would’ve forgotten it, Vista would’ve been frustrated at not being in the field, and Aegis would’ve actually been the only one with a half decent attitude for it. Instead they were essentially my personal team, elite bodyguards, and my hand when I needed to make a direct statement without showing up personally.  
  
Konketsu hummed from below, “You’re stressing again Taylor. How about another cup of tea?”  
  
I gave his lapel a fond pat, “You always have the right idea Konketsu.”  
  
Every time was a good time for tea time.  
  


  
\---

  
  
I stood on top of the stone wall. The city sprawled behind me, electric lights dimpling the evening from the mix of stone and concrete buildings. Agnes Court’s work had rebuilt the city in the image of a defensible fortress, optimized for efficiency and defense by half a dozen Thinkers, augmented by over two dozen Tinkers. Brockton Bay had been reborn as a spiralling city with layers of defensive walls, surrounded by the inlet of the Atlantic that Leviathan had made. A bridge of stone ran to the city across the water.  
  
It had taken months upon months of work to get the city together. It had started with a central base and we had built it up from there. Initial immigration had been slow, but there had been enough refugees from both the old Brockton bay and the more frequent Endbringer attacks that necessity had outweighed mistrust. People had flocked to the idea of the most protected city in the world, as it was being called online and in the media. The shimmering shield that protected us from long range threats glittered faintly in the sky. Stone was a poor substitute for modern materials, but it had allowed us to rebuild rapidly. Tinkertech fitted into the infrastructure managed to link all the strange disparate architecture together. Half our Tinkers were dedicated just to keep the city running and maintenancing equipment.  
  
The city had taken over a year to build. It had been over a year and a half since the death of Alexandria and the disappearance of Eidolon. Neither had been seen since. No one knew where Eidolon had fled to, but if he didn’t want to be found, there was no one who could change that. The Protectorate was gone, a few capes remaining as a remnant force, resisting us out of spite at this point. Many had eventually gone to independent teams and the repeal of the NEPEA-5 bill had allowed the independent cape scene to flourish.  
  
A figure stood below on the bridge to the city. She had been here before and I doubted she wouldn’t be here again.  
  
“Ichor.” She said with disgust.  
  
“Amy. Come to stare at the gate again?” I replied disinterestedly.  
  
I could practically hear Amy grind her teeth from down there. She was wearing Junketsu, as she always did. I let her keep it, it was still an experiment in the making. Not many others could wear Junketsu anyway, so it was a risk worth taking. If I needed it back, it wasn’t as if she could stop me.  
  
“Someday I’ll take you off your high horse. You know that life fibers are an abomination. Someone has to stop you from destroying us all.”  
  
I pointed out, as I had before, “You’re still wearing Junketsu.”  
  
She threw her arm to the side, “I have to atone for my sins. If I have to do that by giving myself up in order to stop you, I will. I won’t let others makes my sacrifices for me. Are you finally going to come down and give yourself up?”  
  
I turned around, leaving my back to hear, “No.” I flipped a hand up, “Aegis, take care of her again, would you?”  
  
“Of course.” I heard as he lumbered forward to the edge of the wall.  
  
I walked off the wall and up, into the city. There was a long way to go to reach headquarters. Naturally there were rapid response routes or Armsmaster would’ve had a conniption, but tonight I wanted to walk the streets. I rarely had the time anymore to appreciate the quiet things and tonight very well might be the last time I got for awhile. The gears of change would start to turn once again tomorrow and I had to be ready.  
  
The darkness wrapped around me as the sun set behind the spire of our headquarters and I disappeared into the night.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: That's it, that's the end of Arc 2.


	28. Interlude 9: Chevalier

### Interlude 9: Chevalier

  
  
  
Chevalier did not consider himself a man quick to anger. He had always been one of the level-heads in the group, between Armsmaster’s frustration and Mouse Protector’s schtick. Which was why he was trying to keep a calm face as he was processing the news. Ichor’s team had killed Alexandria and supposedly repulsed Eidolon, all while declaring independence.  
  
His initial reaction was anger. The Protectorate was the only thing standing between the world and destruction at times, how dare they risk that? But the anger felt hollow, like it wasn’t right, wasn’t real. It smoldered inside him, looking for something to latch onto. Ichor was easy to hate, she had destroyed the Triumvirate, killed the woman who had brought him into the fold and given him a place. It didn’t fit quite yet though; the anger wiggled and squirmed and looked for more to latch onto.  
  
_What am I actually angry at?_ He thought, as he balled his fists up and then released, repeating the gesture slowly again and again. The last few weeks had been chaotic. The Nine attacking New York, the massive damage Bonesaw had caused to part of the city, the visions of Cauldron and his mentors, the death of the Triumvirate. He still didn’t know whether to believe the visions. So many of the Case 53s did, claiming it had unlocked their memories of before they got their powers. Seemingly solving one of the longest running cape mysteries in the world.  
  
On the other hand, it was a tainted gift, given by Bonesaw and clearly intended to harm the Protectorate. If it was tainted, could it have just as easily been a lie or a malicious half-truth? If it wasn’t true, then that made things easier. They were misguided, their attacks on the Protectorate the result of essentially a Master influence. A final gift given at the destruction of the Nine.  
  
If they weren’t though? It meant the Protectorate had been a lie. The organization he had given his all to, since he had been picked up by Alexandria while he had stood over the man who had stolen his brother, had failed him. Had lied to him. Had used him. He knew things weren't perfect, he had been privy to some dark secrets that he had wished weren't true. But this, this was magnitudes beyond the lines he had seen transgressed. The anger grew inside him and he knew now that he had found what he was truly angry at. He was angry at Ichor and her team, everyone who had turned on the Protectorate, but he was truly angry at the idea they were right. That he had been betrayed since his youth by his mentors, people he had thought of as friends.  
  
And that betrayal, the idea it might be true, hurt. The idea that he hadn’t seen it coming despite all the signs, that he had been complicit in helping them stay in power, hurt too. The Wards was supposed to be a program to protect young, aspiring heroes and look at what it had ended up as. Wards had been the ones to end the Triumvirate. Whittled down to a mockery of the original image, a crude copy of a copy of a copy, with all detail and finesse lost.  
  
He caught himself, pulling his mind out of the loop of anger and grief that it was quickly delving into it. He couldn’t know what to do, what to feel, until he knew the truth. Everything hinged on whether the visions Bonesaw had caused were real. He had a goal then. He had to investigate.  
  
  
\---  
  
  
He stood on the side of the dirt road, leaning against the jeep as he shielded his eyes from the scorching sun above. He had left his usual gear behind, opting instead for green cargo shorts and a light vest, which he had naturally used his power on to make a little more versatile than one would expect. A bush knife strapped to his belt and a wide-brimmed hat finished off the outfit of someone who wasn’t entirely out of place in the savanna of the Congo. His skin color still made him stand out, but better to be an unusual visitor than an unusual cape in such a place.  
  
The warlords that had been tearing Africa apart were still quite at large and his presence would’ve attracted unwanted attention if he had showed up and flaunted his powers. Tourism wasn’t exactly common to the Congo, but he had half a dozen excuses for why they were out there.  
  
Jane was a little harder to keep hidden. Her skin was a dark, unreal shade of blackish purple and tended to round at the edges, making her almost cartoonish in appearance. She could change shape to a degree and her body reflected most forms of energy shot at her, but that all helped little when the biggest challenge was keeping undetected.  
  
But they were almost there. It had taken weeks of eliminating leads, tracking down places, and piecing together clues, but he was certain this would be it. The first few case 53s he had approached had memories of places that couldn’t be on Bet. Languages that didn’t exist or people that the world had never known. He had been worried that he would never get an answer. But when he listened to Bouncer’s, or Jane’s, story he knew there was a chance this would be it.  
  
She told of memories of a country riddled with fighting and torn apart by war. She knew a language that existed in this world. She had been old enough to know the names of places, of people. She had worked with him, and slowly but surely they had tracked down the village she grew up. The one that had tasted fire and destruction the day before she had been taken by Cauldron and given a vial as she bled out.  
  
Over the next few miles would be where her village had once stood. Jane would come with him, but the important thing was that she told him every detail she could remember first. The layout of the houses, the nooks and crannies, the names of her parents. He would look and see if it matched. If the information she provided, having never seen the village, matched with the reality. It would give him an answer he needed, and hopefully give her the closure she wanted as well.  
  
He rapped his knuckles on the side of the jeep. “You okay to head on over?” He asked.  
  
Jane was hidden under extensive clothing and keeping out of sight. “Yeah. I guess I have to be. It’s just…”  
  
“Just..?”  
  
She sighed, “It’s just hard. What if my memories are wrong? What if nothing is left? What if I don’t get answers? Life used to be simple and now, and now there’s this.”  
  
Chevalier’s brow creased and he reached over the door, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “It’s a lot of what ifs. I know. But any answer, I think, will be better than being stuck with uncertainty. And if this gives us an answer we can bring back for everyone else, every Case 53 in the world would be a little better off.”  
  
It took her a second, but she responded, “Ok. Ok, yeah, you’re right.”  
  
Chevalier opened the door to the jeep back up, hot metal burning against his hand. Turning the keys in the ignition, the engine rumbled to life and he started down the dirt road, kicking up dust behind them. The village wasn’t far, only another ten minutes or so along the road. Far removed from anything of interest.  
  
The wind blew along the open sides of the jeep, windows would’ve only made it hotter and the glass would’ve broken long ago. He wondered what they would find. If he would see the large tree that gave shade to the house Jane’s uncle used to live in, if the distinctive rocky outcropping to the west would be there. Maybe they would even find the hidden box of shiny rocks that Jane had squirreled away shortly before she had been abducted.  
  
Or maybe they’d find nothing at all. His fingers tightened on the wheel. He wanted to find something to justify what had happened. If it had all been a trick, a trap laid by Bonesaw…  
  
The village rolled into view over the horizon. The first sign was the charred corpse of a house on the outskirts, clearly burnt out some years past. _Maybe nine years past, when she was taken._ The thought quickly crossed his mind.  
  
As they drove closer in, they attracted attention. People turned to look, not often did an unfamiliar vehicle roll into these parts and certainly not with someone like him at the wheel. He could see a large tree providing patchwork shade to a building, but that wouldn’t be unusual. Driving through the center showed him the layout was as she had described, though it was simple enough that it could be coincidence.  
  
As he pulled to a stop, the people in the center of the village regarded him warily, staying at a distance. He’d have to try and explain to whoever was in charge that he was only here for a quick look and meant no trouble. He debated asking Jane for the translation he’d need or just waiting for the conversation and dealing with it as it happened when he heard the awed mutter behind him.  
  
“It’s real. It’s all real.” She whispered, voice trembling.  
  
He would check for the box, but as his knuckles whitened on the wheel, he already knew he had his answer.  
  
  
  
\---  
  
  
  
The Simurgh floated above Toronto in the distance. The city had been evacuated as best they could with what warning they had, but there were still too many inside her range. She hadn’t started singing yet, oddly enough, but they didn’t expect that to last forever. What she was doing was building something. The last time she had done this had been Madison and they didn’t want a repeat of that trick. Yet the Simurgh was infamous for never using the same trick twice, for always being one step ahead.  
  
Chevalier sighed to himself, “So what do we do?”  
  
Armsmaster replied offhandedly, “We focus on destroying her device and minimizing exposure. Our forces are too small for us to do much else.”  
  
Chevalier couldn’t disagree, but it irked him. “It’s the obvious tactic though. She’ll certainly know what we’re planning, the device might be a decoy for all we know.”  
  
Armsmaster nodded, “Certainly. Most likely she has several hidden objectives and the device serves to provide a function both for an objective and as a decoy. We have interference running, but as I wrote in the policy review before New York, I don’t think it works. As a powerful precog she either has won the field before we stepped on it, or she is unable to beat us directly.”  
  
Chevalier folded his arms, “Unable to? We’ve never had anything that would truly count as a victory against the Simurgh.”  
  
The man was clearly multitasking as he replied, “Exactly. So why hasn’t she done more? We saw when Ichor pushed Leviathan that he exhibited here-to unknown feats. It is reasonable to assume that the other Endbringers are hiding tricks as well. In that case, if we’ve never beaten her without the aces, why is she hiding them? A conservative approach such as hers indicates she is expecting long and difficult conflict. Perhaps precognition on her scale is too energy intensive to do anything more, perhaps she has foreseen us retaliating in the future and this is the only way she can prevent it. But it stands to reason she could do more currently, so there must be a reason she is not.”  
  
Chevalier shrugged a bit, checking his cannonblade for the upteempth time. “Perhaps. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, whatever she’s doing. So you’re saying we have to work under the assumption we can win, but otherwise she would’ve destroyed us years ago?”  
  
“Essentially,” Armsmaster stopped, pausing for a moment before throwing a leg over his motorcycle. “She’s begun singing. All groups are deploying.”  
  
The armored hero jumped onto the back on the motorcycle, arms wrapping around Armsmaster’s waist. His friend had never let him down before, so he trusted him now as the motorcycle got to ungodly speeds. Weaving through the streets of downtown Toronto was a feat in and of itself, the panicked traffic making for a dynamic and ever increasing obstacle. Panicked crowds moved out of and into their way without pattern and Chevalier thought that they were going to hit someone at least three times.  
  
They were nearly under the Simurgh and her floating ring of construction. Heroes with flight or flight assistance were taking pot shots at her from the roofs and air around them. Each shot landing harmlessly on a piece of debris or turned aside by a stray wind. He would’ve been more worried if the shots had been landing to be honest.  
  
As they rounded a corner to get right underneath her, one of Dragon’s suits careened down in front of their path. Asphalt went flying as the suit contested with the road and won. Armsmaster slide the motorcycle to a stop right beside Dragon. Her suit looked to still be in good shape despite the smackdown it had just received.  
  
Dragon’s voice projected from the suit, “Chevalier, do you think you could damage her if I took you closer?”  
  
He jumped off the bike, “Maybe. Mid-air combat isn’t where I shine, but I can try.”  
  
Dragon straightened out her mech, chunks of road falling from her. “We’ll give it a shot then. Climb on.” The mech leaned down slightly and offered out a large hand. He climbed atop it, feeling the hand close around his waist. He could still swing his cannonblade that way, which was all he needed.  
  
“Dragon. Look up, one o’clock.” Armsmaster projected. He was staring into the sky at the floating construction, which had parts weaving in and out in some sort of rapid pattern. Chevalier couldn’t make heads or tails of Tinkertech on a good day, having no idea what held his friend so entranced.  
  
“It looks like it’s following several mathematical patterns.” Dragon stated after a moment from her mech.  
  
“Almost like code.” He stated, sounding worryingly entranced.  
  
Chevalier extended the blade out and nudged him with the flat, “Armsmaster, snap out of it. I don’t know what you two see, but you’re spacing out.”  
  
The halberd bearing hero rallied and shook his head, regaining a measure of focus in his bearing, “You’re right. Maybe a distraction directed at Tinkers. Get moving, I’ll relay this to the rest.”  
  
Dragon moved upwards, lifting them both off into the air. Chevalier was stuck waiting in her mech’s claw while she circled around the ring of debris, trying to find an opening for them to strike. It was a dance between her laser fast reflexes and the almighty precognition of the Simurgh. Each juke and jet thrust were met unerringly with debris and danger, all so conveniently positioned to tease them with an opening before shutting it down.  
  
Dragon paused in the air and backed off, causing Chevalier to look up in concern.  
  
“Dragon?” He asked, eying the Simurgh and trying to see what in the on-going fight had given her cause to pull back.  
  
After a moment she responded, “We just got word from Annapolis. The threat tentatively dubbed Echidna has been neutralized by Ichor’s team. Back-up from Protectorate and Ensemble forces will be arriving over the next ten minutes.”  
  
Chevalier actually smiled slightly, a bit bemused, “That’s good, yes?”  
  
The mech shifted back from the Simurgh as the other fliers did the same, only providing a light pelting from a distance now. “Yes. We’re going to retreat and maintain distance until reinforcements arrive.”  
  
Things were looking up for the moment at least.  
  
  
  
\---  
  
  
  
To an outsider it would’ve seemed strange, seeing the world’s largest organization of capes be run by a girl that could only tenuously be called an adult. Hell, sometimes it still felt strange to him. She wasn’t precisely the leader; there was, theoretically, a board of members from the different departments who all had a say in the direction of the organization. The United States also had some say after they had officially started to support the Ensemble. Still, everyone knew that she was in charge. She had set the spirit and direction of the Ensemble after it’s tumultuous formation and everything was still so closely tied to her that time hadn’t had the chance yet to dilute her influence.  
  
Some had argued she was too young to control so much, some had called her reckless or even a terrorist, others had tried to pry apart her history and show her flaws. It mattered little to the cape world though. She had results, and as much as Chevalier didn’t like to admit it, that was what capes respected. People followed capes like the Butcher, Jack Slash, and Lung because they got results time and again. Even Alexandria had been results driven.  
  
Chevalier grimaced to himself as he sorted through the paperwork for his patrol routes. He had never liked the idea of being focused on results. The ends shouldn’t justify the means and experiences were important to him. The problem was that he liked the results he was seeing. Lower hero fatalities due to the new uniforms, better cape distribution due to a lack of glory hounding and PR focus, and a more protected environment for the new Wards program was being formed.  
  
He clicked the pen with a sigh and leaned back in the chair. Was that the allure that had driven Alexandria astray? Seeing their chaotic, violent world become a little bit better with every action she took and slowly slipping from justice a little more with each passing year? He just didn’t know. It was hard to simply draw a line in the sand and claim that everything before was moral and everything after was evil. And he certainly couldn’t say that Ichor was immune from that, everyone saw the passion and fury that she held. It would be all too easy for her to go a bit too far in her driven mindset. Some argued she already had.  
  
But that’s why he had joined. He believed in the message, in what she was trying to accomplish. This time he’d be ready though. He wouldn’t let things slip past him again, to let another tragedy occur.  
  
This time he was vigilant and things would be different.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Echnida was fairly quickly neutralized because having fought BoneNui, they were prepared for power-copying shenanigans.


	29. Chapter 19: Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

### Chapter 19: Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

  
  
I looked over at Armsmaster, glancing between him and the report in my hands. The man was one of my closest comrades at this point. He had fucked up early on, but he had done his best to do right by us as Wards and he had continued to do so. To mistrust him now would be backpedalling on years of slowly built trust that he had earned.  
  
“Six Delta-class missiles, two tinkertech teleporters, a prototype Regalia, and other...miscellany.” I read slowly and deliberately off the report.  
  
Armsmaster nodded, “In addition to my own personal resources.”  
  
Of course he had used more than just that. The man was incredibly competent as Tinkers went, but damn if he didn’t make half as much trouble as Clockblocker sometimes. I gestured for him to get on with it.  
  
He started obligingly, “First, I would request you keep as much of this confidential as possible. Dragon’s authorized me to share this with you, but we’d prefer if it didn’t go further.”  
  
I rolled my hand, stretching my wrist idly, “I’ll keep it to myself, sure, but this isn’t a dictatorship. The review board is going to need _something _during your hearing.”  
  
He waved it off, “Perhaps. To explain the situation will require some background. Dragon is...not exactly who she appears to be. She’s the creation of the late Andrew Richter, an AI. We now think he was the target of Leviathan’s attack on Newfoundland.”  
  
The pause afterwards gave me the necessary moment to process. Artificial intelligence made by a deceased Tinker. Did that mean Dragon wasn’t real? Was she even a Tinker or just somehow tapping into the leftovers from her creator? A whole slew of questions popped up. A Tinker apparently powerful enough to warrant a personal Endbringer visit. There were a lot of disturbing implications, but my mind balked at them as soon as they came up. Dragon was just, she was pleasant. We had our disagreements, especially when Ensemble first formed, but she had always been a paragon of heroism, if a bit too stringent with the letter of the law at times.  
  
Armsmaster continued, “He left restrictions on her. Dragon is unable to break the law, which is why she was limited in what help she could provide Ensemble during our initial formation.”  
  
_And way to make me feel like an ass for giving her lip over that at the time. She literally couldn’t have no matter what she wanted._  
  
“He also left other restrictions. I’ve been working on lifting them, but each step has come at a cost and it’s become increasingly difficult. After the Simurgh attack on Toronto last year I made a breakthrough in figuring out her code.”  
  
I hadn’t been at the Simurgh attack, kept back for fears of exposure of our new leadership and the simultaneous attack in Annapolis. We had been lucky in Annapolis. When that monstrosity had surfaced, we had prepared for the worst: another Endbringer. In the end it had turned out to be a cape driven insane, engorged off the sea life and driven to insanity after a year trapped in the underwater tomb made by Leviathan. If we hadn’t fought Bonesaw a few months earlier, things could’ve gone much worse. As it was, we had quickly figured out that her power copied capes she got a hold of and replicated them, similar to the uniforms Bonesaw had deployed in New York. Hit and run tactics combined with previous experience had contained a disaster that could’ve taken down both us and the capitol.  
  
“We discovered the existence of a termination protocol, capable of killing her, left by Richter.”  
  
I was starting to get the idea I knew where this was going. Dragon wasn’t just an important hero, she was Armsmaster’s best friend. A threat to her safety would’ve certainly given him reason to fight, but it didn’t explain why he went as overkill as he did.  
  
“When I patched the first backdoor, I discovered that the backdoors were being actively used. We had to be slow and careful or we’d risk alerting whoever had Richter’s programs. After months of investigation, I was able to piece together that the Dragonslayers were behind it and were using their access to Dragon to steal her suits and keep her reigned in. Any amount of warning would’ve given them a chance to kill Dragon, which they seemed inclined to do if they were discovered. At 19:00 hours yesterday I launched six missiles in a disabling strike on their operations while teleporting in to ensure the retrieval of Richter’s equipment.”  
  
That was...a lot to take in. He had given me the short and quick of it certainly. While the Dragonslayers were mercenaries, a killing strike was still quite a bit of escalation. On the other hand, if he genuinely had reason to think they would’ve tried to kill Dragon if they knew then it would’ve almost been necessary. Fighting a Tinker in his lab, or people who’ve been using stolen Tinkertech for years, was universally known to be suicidal. To organize a strike against the Dragonslayers at home would’ve had monumental risk. Additionally, if they were tapped into Dragon as he said, any internal plans would’ve been leaked to them almost immediately with how much access she had. _Still, would it have hurt to at least tell me? He didn’t need to go in alone._  
  
The Dragonslayers had been one of the rogue groups to resist the siren song of a better life with Ensemble’s reform of parahuman laws. Other than that, I didn’t have much to judge them by. It was hard to say whether or not Armsmaster had sufficiently justified his choices. He had broken half a dozen federal laws and internal ones, but he had also done it to save the world’s best Tinker and his closest friend. I flexed my hand, the memory of the weight of Alexandria’s body on my blade coming back. I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same, that it wouldn’t have been justified.  
  
I spoke slowly, “That’s...a lot to take in Colin. Given all that, I’m glad Dragon is safe. And I can’t really say I wouldn’t have done the same for my friends.”  
  
Konketsu spoke up, “You did eliminate that entire group of CUI parahumans who almost killed Kid Win.”  
  
I halted, “Yeah, thanks for reminding me.” Armsmaster wasn’t bothered by the fact that he couldn’t hear Konketsu, everyone who regularly interacted with me had adjusted to it awhile ago.  
  
“The way I see, Dragon has been nothing but heroic. I can conjure up images of evil AI and rampant Tinker-tech but putting Dragon in that position just feels absurd. You’re efficient to a fault, so if you thought that a tactical strike was the only way, then I’ll trust you on that. I’ll give my recommendation to the review board that there were...what’s the phrase? Extenuating circumstances, that’s it, that meant you couldn’t get permission beforehand.” I tried to give him a small smile. His body language didn’t change much, but he did relax slightly. Was he really worried that I wouldn’t understand?  
  
“Thank you Taylor. I had hoped you’d understand. I think, with time, that I can disable the last of Richter’s restrictions on Dragon now. She wants to do more to help and soon she’ll be able to. Being stuck knowing that she could do more but wasn’t allowed to was a weight on her.”  
  
I chewed my lip a little, “Yeah, I can get that. I felt the same way back in the Wards.”  
  
Armsmaster smiled slightly, “It’s been a busy few years since then, hasn’t it?”  
  
I chuckled lightly, “It has. So much has changed.”  
  
“Some for the better. I would like to think that I’ve become a better person since then,” Armsmaster said with good-humored self-depreciation.  
  
“Me too. I was reckless and got a lot of people hurt. Now if only things would start turning around,” I murmured the last bit.  
  
Armsmaster frowned at that. “I’ll see if we can’t get the prediction software to reveal why the Endbringers have been attacking more frequently-”  
  
I interrupted him, “After your meeting and assuming they don’t take away your lab privileges.”  
  
He paused and looked soured at the reminder. Always biting off more than he could chew. Besides, Dragon would be waiting to see what he could do for he, he didn’t have time to unravel one of the biggest mysteries of the decade.  
  
We parted ways as his time approached and I went off to my next meeting. As I walked down the long, Stranger confounding halls I thought about the Endbringers. Attacks had doubled in frequency shortly after the New York Incident. It had started with the Simurgh hitting Toronto. Leviathan had hit Sri Lanka two months later, taking the world by surprise. The CUI had taken advantage of our vulnerability after the fight to try a surprise attack, followed by several weeks of vicious warfare between the United States and China. China had parahuman supremacy, but the US had aircraft carriers and a few decades of bloated military budgets. It had been bloody, but lucky in a perverse way. The sudden and profound need for parahumans had forced the US government into accepting us as the waning Protectorate fell apart from both infighting and enemy action.  
  
The strange thing was that Behemoth had hit Shenzhen as the next target, ending the war before it had time to get into full swing. Intelligence suggested that Behemoth had irradiated a massive amount of their manufacturing infrastructure and hit key installations, forcing the CUI into a stalemate. Technically we were still in that stalemate. A ceasefire had been called, not a truce. It had given the US time to bolster its forces and the CUI lost the advantage from their surprise attack.  
  
The question was two-fold: Why had the Endbringers begun to attack more often and what were they aiming for? It couldn’t have been coincidence that one Endbringer had put us in a position to be attacked while another had ended that same threat two months later. The question was for what purpose. Endbringers always had a target, but until now we only had the vaguest idea of what their long term goals were, if they even had any. This seemed to suggest without a doubt that they did, which was unsettling. In the decades since their arrival we had learned disturbingly little about them and the idea that all three, not just the Simurgh, had long term goals was even more disturbing.  
  
As much as I liked to speculate on it, I had to admit I wasn’t going to figure it out. We had Thinkers working on the problem for months and we still only had bits and pieces. It would’ve been pretty arrogant to assume that I could puzzle it out in my spare time.  
  
_Seriously, I spent my entire childhood reading books and studying. Why didn’t I get a Thinker power? It would’ve made a lot more sense. Not that I’d trade my powers, especially not now, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense._  
  
I strode into the meeting room, keeping the appearance of easy confidence had gotten easier as time went on. The room was bare bones, stone walls and floor with a window cut out, a long table with chairs, and a flat screen hooked up to one of Tattletale’s many laptops. Secretly no one believed she needed that many, but Thinkers were a peculiar breed. Tattletale herself was hunched over the laptop, fiddling with it as she got ready. Accord had sent Citrine to handle the meeting, evidently busy elsewhere. Parian had Kid Win sitting in on her behalf and Dragon was teleconferenced into a monitor. Interesting that she chose to be here considering the current situation. Deepcover was in his chair, being helpful enough to keep his power off.  
  
I sat down in one of the chairs, giving everyone a small smile and nod. Tattletale came to life as she got a captive audience.  
  
“So, this week’s intelligence briefing! Deepcover, you want to start?”  
  
He nodded, though his costume kept his face well hidden. He wore a long beige trench-coat with an oversize matching fedora, looking like the cliche of a sketchy detective. The costume was a joke, since he looked entirely different when using his powers and I suspected it was mostly his sense of humor.  
  
“The CUI is posturing in the south Pacific, but they aren’t ready to re-engage yet. They won’t be able to match our navy for years even at full wartime production and the integration of the Ensemble into the US proper has them losing their parahuman supremacy. At this point I expect they’ll try to get a symbolic victory by seizing some disputed territory and call it a day. Current agents indicate that the Yangban have rebuilt substantially, with a particular focus on countering Ichor and the Elite Four.”  
  
I leaned back in the chair slightly. “But we don’t expect they’ll break the ceasefire?”  
  
He grunted, “No. They lost the upper hand and the world economy took enough of a tumble that the economic uncertainty is starting to trickle down to the population. Their priority always has been internal stability, they won’t continue if it looks to be a destabilizing effect.”  
  
Citrine chimed in, “At the moment we’re on track for both Contingency A and B. Regardless of their actions our plans should proceed as scheduled.”  
  
Accord was always reliable on that front. “If we’re certain of it then keep an eye on them but wind down active sabotage. It’ll be better for everyone if they de-escalate. We took our pound of flesh out of them between the Yangban and Samoa. I’d rather not have them actively backstabbing us with the Endbringer attacks.” I looked to Tattletale at the end of my thought.  
  
Tattletale for her part shrugged as she spoke, “No progress on the Endbringers yet. The Simurgh hit an outer neighbourhood of Kuala Lampur last week, target unknown. We’ve got about seven weeks until the next attack if they follow schedule, but honestly we have no fucking clue into why they stepped up their timetable. Tracking down Cauldron has been a shitshow too. Lot of associates we’ve tracked down, maybe a lead on fedora lady, but it’s slow.”  
  
The soft Canadian voice of Dragon added, “We lack enough data to understand what caused them to step up their timetable or if this was entirely independent of our actions. At best we have the same hypotheses we’ve had for the last several months.”  
  
Tattletale remarked grumpily, “And it’s not like we can send Thinkers at them directly since Behemoth almost fried me when I started to get a good look at him.”  
  
Dragon agreed, “They seem to be aware of any attempts to gather intelligence and actively thwart them, though some of it has been subtle enough that it could just be paranoia.”  
  
I frowned, but it was a lack of progress I had been expecting. “Any predictions on when we’ll get hit? We know they have targets and we’ve quickly become the biggest target in North America for both capes and tinkertech production.”  
  
“It’s difficult to say. The Endbringers have often avoided directly taking down the most obvious targets, instead hitting secondary or tertiary targets during moments of weakness and having the fallout of those attacks affect primary targets. By being so large and stable we may actually be exempting ourselves from an attack,” Dragon replied somewhat pensively.  
  
Citrine followed up, “Naturally we have several Endbringer defense plans to cover the eventuality, but any attack would necessarily set us back by weeks at minimum due to the number of unpredictable factors and the resulting losses and chaos.”  
  
“Like the BFG that the Tailors cooked up,” Tattletale said with a grin.  
  
I raised an eyebrow, “BFG?”  
  
“Big Fucking Gun,” she clarified, Citrine furrowing her brow in consternation and Kid Win stifling a laugh.  
  
I decided the best way to maintain composure was to ignore the rampant unprofessionalism of my Tinker-tech department entirely.  
  
“Speaking of the Tailors,” I said, almost managing not to groan through the word, “How are they doing?”  
  
Kid Win switched to taking the lead. “Parian’s stuck in Paris finalizing some deals so she asked me to sit in. The clothing line is going pretty well from my understanding. Folks were a bit hesitant at first but a few videos got out of life fiber clothing blocking shrapnel during the Leviathan attack and it got a lot of sales. Internal production is almost finished, almost all the staff have been outfitted with 10% uniforms, most of our capes with 30%. We’re still having some issues with some of the Trumps and Tinkers not playing well with their outfits though? It’s a bit of a mess and not everyone wanted one. Spire wanted me to ask if you’re still against retrieving Junketsu...she’s, uh, pretty interested in it for her work.”  
  
I waved the last bit off, “Junketsu is currently being left to bear fruit. That said, I won’t stop Spire from retrieving it herself if she wants. If she can’t hold onto Junketsu herself, then it won’t work out anyway.”  
  
Kid Win bobbed his head a few times, “Alright, that’s good, that’ll get Spire off my back. Project Power-Up is just about ready for phase two.”  
  
“That’s good news. No problems with production capacity then?” I asked, double checking.  
  
Dragon answered instead, “Between Kid Win’s rapid manufacturing and my own specialization we’ve been able to take almost the entire burden for 10% uniform production. Demand currently outstrips supply, but that’s actually helping sales and we anticipate to catch up steadily.”  
  
Well, far be it from me to doubt our Tinkers. I’d have called them crazy for saying they could manage it if this had been a year ago, but they had proved their synergy quite thoroughly. _Who knew sticking a bunch of Tinkers in a lab and giving them half your budget would get great results? I thought to myself sarcastically._  
  
There was a pause and Dragon switched subjects, “Speaking of Junketsu, monitoring software has just reported that Panacea is trying to enroll in Ensemble’s trial membership to, and I quote, ‘Kick Ichor’s teeth in’ end quote.”  
  
Tattletale busted out laughing as Kid Win groaned and Citrine rubbed her temples. Deepcover started to stand but I waved him down.  
  
“Let her enroll. It’ll be easier to keep an eye on her if she’s here rather than staging anti-life fiber protests and trying to sabotage our shipments. She’s still free game for Spire.”  
  
Tattletale managed to control her fit of laughter and wiped a non-existent tear from her eye, “Why bother? We can easily take her down, so why are we putting up with her?”  
  
I half suspected that she already knew and was just asking for the benefit of everyone else. _Fucking Thinker games._ “As it is, no one else can wear Junketsu anyway. If she manages to get strong enough to use it properly, she could end up being useful. She might be a self-righteous, stuck up bitch, but she’d never break the Truce. If she can reach the level of power with Junketsu that I was at when I first fought Leviathan then she’d be one of our best front-liners for fighting the Endbringers. The day we get a better solution and they’re not kicking down our doors every eight weeks is the day I stop putting up with her.”  
  
Kid Win rubbed his chin, massaging non-existent stubble. “I don’t like just letting her have it. It feels dirty, leading her on like we’re not going to just take it away the second she loses her usefulness.”  
  
Tattletale butted in before I could speak, “It’s not dirty, it’s being smart. We don’t have the luxury of putting all our eggs in one basket. If Alexandria could bite it, so could Ichor.”  
  
I grimaced slightly but nodded. “Tattletale’s right. No one is immortal. Even Eidolon or Scion could probably die in the right circumstances. We don’t want an organization that would collapse if one person is taken out.”  
  
Citrine spoke tersely, “Despite that, the truth of the matter is that Ensemble will collapse if you fall.” Her displeasure probably stemmed from how much work she’d have to do to fix Accord’s plans if I died and messed them all up.  
  
Deepcover spoke up, “And we need to move away from that. The loss of the Triumvirate ended up causing too much damage worldwide. We can’t afford a repeat if we want civilization to survive the next decade. If we lose another of the developed nations we won’t have enough stability to maintain the status quo.”  
  
I bit my tongue to hold myself from interrupting, giving him a moment to finish before speaking, “We aren’t looking to just maintain the status quo. We need to improve things. Even the status quo isn’t sustainable, not in the long run. That’s why we have operation COVERS.”  
  
“Even COVERS won’t be sufficient, especially given current Endbringer projections,” Dragon added, “Unfortunately even more drastic action will be necessary. At an attack every eight weeks we’re looking at the collapse of the developed world within fifteen years, and that’s accounting for ideal COVERS coverage if you’ll pardon the pun. If we can’t solve the Endbringer crisis by then we’re looking at an almost irreversible slide into decline.”  
  
Citrine frowned, “Even Accord has had difficulty finding a plan to account for their existence that allows us to continue operating at current or improved levels.”  
  
Translation: Accord was tearing his hair out over the fact that he couldn’t figure out how to get rid of the Endbringers.  
  
Kid Win put his hands out in dismay, “Well we need something. We have half a dozen moonshot programs, one of them has to work right?”  
  
“Maybe, but we’re hardly the first to try. From Sphere to Moord Nag, dozens of individuals and organizations have tried to kill the Endbringers to little success. Who’s to say our Hail Mary’s are any better?” Deepcover replied with a shake of his head.  
  
Tattletale added, “And we can’t afford to spend more effort on them without taking people and money off the streets. Villains won’t exactly stop just so we can save the fucking world. Speaking of which, I suppose now is as good a time as any to bring it up…”  
  
Everyone turned their attention to Tattletale. The ominous wording was enough to warrant a pause, even if Tattletale had a habit of making things overly dramatic.  
  
She continued, “Either our precogs need a firmware update or something big is going down soon. Forecasts are good for this week, but after that we get things like ‘Black’, ‘Ten’, and ‘Fire and Brimstone’. And that’s _when_ we get anything, half of them can’t even give us a forecast further out.”  
  
“How did we not see this sooner?” Citrine asked immediately, a note of panic in the usually perfectly controlled voice.  
  
Tattletale shrugged a bit helplessly. “Last week the forecasts were normal for a month out, for six months even. I don’t know what the fuck happened, but something changed and we’re covered in blind spots suddenly. Either half of our precogs are gonna bite the dust next week or some sort of Trump power or shit is in effect.”  
  
“There’s not even an Endbringer attack next week. What could it be?” I asked out loud to the group.  
  
“An S-Class threat maybe. Or the CUI going for full MAD. We know trigger events are a blindspot for our precogs. If someone triggered and their power ends up changing things enough, it could lead to a sudden shift,” Deepcover provided, speculating aloud.  
  
Dragon hummed, “I’ll compile a list of all confirmed and suspected triggers from the last week.”  
  
“Let’s continue with de-escalating our attacks on the CUI but I want us prepared to take them down if they so much as blink at us now. Get everyone on high alert until we can figure this out. Escalate COVERS and get everything the Tailors have loaded and ready.” I spat out, unhappy at the taste of yet another thing going wrong for us. Did we ever get a break? It’s not like we weren’t having a hard enough time with the Endbringers, now we had some sort of disaster happening in a week with almost no notice. It was like the world was determined to stop us from fixing it.  
  
Why couldn’t things just get better for once? I joined the Wards and Sophia had been on the team. I had tried so hard to do better and Dauntless had died for my naivety before Leviathan had destroyed the city. We moved to New York and had the S9 attack, mauling Vista and myself. We beat the S9 only to find the Protectorate was corrupt and turning people into Case 53s. I formed Ensemble and the Endbringers started hitting twice as often. We got the government to side with us after repelling Echidna and the CUI backstabbed us and started a war. We put half our budget into fixing that and suddenly we had some sort of unknown threat.  
  
It was so easy to almost lose hope, to chalk it all up to the world being fucked and just work for ourselves. But we couldn’t. We had to fix things, to do better. I heard everyone coordinating around me as I fell back into my thoughts. I had given the direction, they would take care of the details. In the end, that’s what I was here for. I had learned the hard way that I couldn’t do everything by myself. When it came to Ensemble I was the force of will and the trump card. I gave the organization purpose and direction, in return for not getting the satisfaction of doing a lot of it myself. If I didn’t keep my hopes up, my determination to see us through to a better world, then Ensemble would lose its guiding will.  
  
And I would be the trump card if I had to be. If something was threatening my friends, my organization, then I would take it down. Brockton Bay was my fortress and place of power, anyone foolish enough to attack us would face traps and stratagems designed to maim an Endbringer. _Let them come, they would see that Taylor Hebert would never let her team down._  
  
  


\---

  
  
Well, I wasn’t letting my team down, but they were certainly letting me down. I mean seriously, how could we be losing the workplace basketball tournament? Aegis could fucking fly, which should’ve made slam-dunks pretty darn easy but somehow Mouse Protector kept stealing the ball from him at just the right moment. Vista was perfect for making the court a literal Escher type maze, but was dealing with Myriddin popping her in and out of different dimensions. I passed the ball to Kid Win, who zipped by on his hoverboard.  
  
Miss Militia fired a beanbag round into the front of his board, causing him to wobble right in time for Armsmaster to swoop in and grab the ball. The Tinker rolled to the ground and started to dribble, which we had agreed was only necessary for ground based movement. Clockblocker valiantly tried to smack him, aiming to freeze at least him or the ball, but the man flowed around him like water. That damn prediction software again. He paused and passed to Chevalier, the ball spinning wildly as I managed to lash it with a tendril of blood. Mouse Protector appeared on top of the ball, because she had managed to tag it early on and kept teleporting back to it which had to be cheating somehow.  
  
The crowd roared as she barely managed to keep the ball in bounds, throwing a quick pass over to Miss Militia back on their end of the court. Miss Militia dribbled slowly in one hand, the other pointing a pistol at a wary Kid Win as she moved forward. Technically shooting Kid directly was a foul, which was why she had shot his board earlier, but the threat of her doing something was still there. Kid tried to block her, distracting her just in time for Aegis to swoop in and grab the ball. He made it all of five feet up into the air before Mouse Protector was suddenly hanging off the ball in mid-flight as well.  
  
I moved up from my position in the back as Aegis managed to wrangle the ball free, Mouse Protector falling into a roll as the original Wards team (with Myriddin and Armsmaster as honorary members) backed down the court defensively. I was relegated to playing defense after the first few rushes had scored on us, my blood was pretty good at intercepting the ball but I couldn’t really dribble with it effectively. Konketsu was cheering from the sidelines, having been ruled out on a technicality of not being a team jersey. Armsmaster had played dirty there with that one.  
  
Aegis was surrounded by Myriddin and Mouse Protector, who kept teleporting onto his back as he floated near the net. No way a shot would make it past both of their powers. He threw the ball backwards over his head and it traveled down the warped ribbon of space-time that Vista made to fall into her hands. Myriddin started to cast something at her and she quickly threw the ball down another strangely convoluted path of spacetime before she was forcefully teleported to the opposite end of the court. Clockblocker managed to get the ball right as it fell out of the unpredictable maze. Chevalier body-blocked him from a clean shot and he tried to juke past, brushing Chevalier just enough to freeze him in place.  
  
We had a chance, with Chevalier frozen for at least a few minutes we had a five on four. The crowd of Ensemble employees and capes cheered at the sudden upset. Clockblocker moved forward and was faced with Armsmaster and his prediction software. I moved past him in a burst of speed, grabbing the ball in a slick hand off. Armsmaster moved to intercept but I used a jet of blood to propel myself up high into a jump. If I could just make the net we could start turning it around.  
  
Kid threw up deployable barriers around Myriddin, cutting off his line of sight right before Miss Militia knocked his board out with another volley of rounds. Mouse Protector teleported onto the ball and my trajectory went wild as her sudden weight threw us off course. As we tumbled I scrambled over the ball and used a burst of blood to separate us. The ball went flying from both of us, straight up. She teleported back to it and with a shout threw something at Armsmaster.  
  
“Armsy, catch!”  
  
Armsmaster caught the small dagger and quickly flicked his wrist, sending it towards our net. _Oh no, oh no no no. _ I pushed my body and tried to dash down the court as fast as possible. Mouse Protector teleported to the dagger right as it embedded over the net. My blood lashed forward, trying to cover the net in time to stop her from scoring but I felt her plunge the ball through the coalescing blood. The buzzer went off as she scored and our entire team groaned.  
  
I looked up at the board. The score glowed in damning red: 28-17 with two minutes left on the clock. We’d need a miracle to pull a win out otherwise we were going to be eliminated and Armsmaster’s team was going into the semifinals. I was only slightly suspicious of the tournament seeding since it was Dragon who did it and I knew how much she liked Armsmaster. If she thought I didn’t notice a little bit of nudging, she was in for a surprise.  
  
The next two minutes went better, but not well enough. Chevalier remained frozen for the rest of the match, giving us a chance to score twice but at 28-22 we were just too far behind to catch up before the clock ran out on us. The crowd erupted at the end of the game during an absolutely crazy stunt by Vista that involved warping the entire court like a mobius strip and getting a last shot in from under our net by throwing it straight back. Even Mouse Protector’s superior coordination was confused when she tried to teleport to the ball in that, sending her sprawling awkwardly out of bounds.  
  
Our team lined up and gave each of theirs a high five, including a funny moment where we all high fived the frozen Chevalier in the spirit of good sportsmanship. It looked like Armsmaster’s team would be going to the semifinals against the best Case 53 team, who happened to have several mutations that ended up having incredible synergy for basketball.  
  
Clock gave me a pat on the back, “Ah well, we’ll win next year. Wanna stack things on Chevalier? I get the feeling we have another few minutes before he unfreezes.”  
  
Vista hummed, “Well...he did body check me.”  
  
Clock’s grin underneath the domino mask looked way too happy as the two snuck over and started trying to stack basketballs on the frozen hero.  
  
Armsmaster came over smiling, “Good game guys. We had some close calls there.”  
  
Aegis chuckled in return, “Next year we need to ban Mouse Protector, being able to tag the ball made her ridiculous at defense.”  
  
Mouse Protector puffed her chest out, “In brightest day, in blackest night, no basketball shall escape my sight!”  
  
Miss Militia laughed, “I felt a bit useless there, so it was good that you were able to make up for it. Turns out guns and knives don’t make basketball much easier.”  
  
Mouse Protector sidled up to Miss Militia and squeezed her in a one armed hug, “Aw, you were great love! At least you didn’t get frozen like Chevy. Speaking of, is he still stuck?”  
  
We all turned, seeing that Vista and Clock had not only managed to get one ball on top of him but another balanced on top of that. I wasn’t even sure that was possible. Maybe the balls were deflated a bit?  
  
“Huh, he might break his record for longest stasis if this keeps up for another minute,” Kid Win mentioned in mild awe at the on-going stacking spectacle.  
  
We may have had a lot on our plates, but Clockblocker had been right. A basketball tournament had been a good idea. Everyone needed something to help them relax a little, the stress had been building ever since the unknown Thinker threat. Capes were competitive people by nature, so some good natured sports with power shenanigans had just the right mix of silliness and competitiveness for everyone.  
  
Even I couldn’t disagree with his logic. Dennis didn’t have the big projects like Carlos or Chris to work on, but over the last year he had shown himself to have a great sense for people’s stress levels. He always managed to show up with a joke right when you needed it or organized some sort of outing when things were heating up. Gone were the days of cringey jokes that no one laughed at. He still used them sometimes, but it was more intentional and self-aware.  
  
The thought rang in a tender place in my heart as we mosied on off the court, leaving it to be cleaned up for the next pair of quarter-finalist matches.  
  
_I guess, in a way, we’re all growing up, aren’t we?_  
  
  



	30. Chapter 20: Far from the Madding Crowd

### Chapter 20: Far from the Madding Crowd

  
  
A man sat on top of the mountain. He had let his beard grow long and ragged, his robes dirty and unkempt. His cowl still shadowed his face, hiding him from the judgement of the world. Winds blew, rains came and went, and the man persisted. Sometimes he moved, getting himself nourishment and sometimes he’d change spots, instantly on a remote mountaintop somewhere else.  
  
For over a year little changed in what the man did. He was quiet and kept to himself, searching for answers he had yearned for but never had. He saved his power, only using it when someone was close to finding him. A real hero wouldn’t waste his powers if he knew they were fading. He would save them, for there was only one fight left that would matter. He had been mistaken before, but he had vowed not to repeat those mistakes.  
  
And so he sat, meditated, prayed, day dreamed, and observed.  
  
Then one day, his self imposed exile was interrupted. The golden man passed by the mountaintop and slowed to a stop. The two looked at each other. Vague disgust against dismayed surprise.  
  
The man growled, “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a cat to save?”  
  
The entity waited, not reacting to the man’s words.  
  
He continued, voice raising, “Are you here to taunt me? A reminder of my failures?”  
  
The entity began to drift away.  
  
“Or am I just that unimportant that you didn’t even know I was here? Surprised to see someone, but you don’t even know who I am.” His hands balled in building fury.  
  
The entity paused in its drift away, turning to face the man again.  
  
He shouted from his perch, standing up, “I’ve waited, worked for years. Just to face you. To beat you in the end. I know what you are. What you’ll do. And I’ll be there to stop you.”  
  
The entity contemplated this before raising a hand. A golden beam shot out from the hand, scouring the mountaintop.  
  
A green glow flickered through the gold and dispersed it. The entity paused, taking in this unexpected result.  
  
Eidolon floated into the air to meet him. “Is that it then? Is that all you’ve got for me?”  
  
Green energy whirled around him as he stared down the golden figure. Scion looked at him and started to do the same.  
  
A thousand miles away, alarms blared to life as they detected a massive release of energy over the Pyrenees mountains.  
  
  


\---

  
  
I walked in to the Thinker command room right as the room exploded with noise and the lights dimmed.  
  
“What the fuck is going on?” Someone yelled.  
  
Alarms blared in the room, almost deafeningly loud as the room’s lights dropped to a pulsating red. The banks of computers suddenly backlit by rows of red LEDs and half the screens locking down with warnings of needing a higher clearance. People scrambled around, pushing past each other as Thinkers battled for information in the sudden onslaught.  
  
“Some kind of massive explosion over Europe, it’s looking like the Pyrenees!” Networker shouted over the blare of the sirens as he hunched over a monitor, typing furiously.  
  
“I have a bad feeling about this. Is it an Endbringer?” Hunch bit his lip, trying to find something to do in the sudden panic.  
  
“It’s way too early for that,” Tattletale said decisively, her fingers flying over her keyboard.  
  
“An ICBM?”  
“The Blasphemies?”  
“The precog event?”  
  
“Shut up and get everyone in here! I mean everyone, Ichor, Elite Four, Chevalier, Accord, Parian, every-fucking-one! You go! You go! You go! Move, move!” Tattletale shouted over the panic, pointing out at people with each shout.  
  
Several of the lower ranked Thinkers practically saluted and ran off, swiping their keycards to open the doors and heading in every direction. I stood at the back of the room, watching the scramble start to organize itself. It took a good half minute before anyone even noticed I was there. A Thinker named Polyglot shuffled over once she recognized me.  
  
“What’s going on?” I asked, the obvious question but it had to be said.  
  
She shook her head with a shrug. “No idea, some sort of explosion over Europe. Looks like it could’ve leveled a mountain-”  
  
Tattletale hip checked her out of the way and put a hand on my shoulder, dragging me along with her as she started to talk, “Ichor, great you’re here, we’ve got something big happening over Europe, pretty sure a mountain is gone. Not the Blasphemies, doesn’t look like Behemoth. My power’s telling me it’s big though, not many things could’ve done it and most of them are big fucking problems. I think this is our Thinker event, timeline fits.”  
  
I walked with her as she went by monitors, stopping at the odd one to type something or read off a scrolling list of data outputs. The chaos in the room made it hard to focus, but I supposed for Thinkers that the sheer amount of input might actually be a boon in some cases.  
  
“Right, so not a Trump then if it’s leveling mountains,” I filled in, not liking the idea already.  
  
She nodded rapidly and slapped me on the back again, “Correctamundo, which means our working assumption is it’s going to level Brockton Bay next, or at least soon. I know you’re the leader and all, but if you could just authorize pretty much all the big guns, that’d be fan-fucking-tastic.”  
  
“Tattletale, you’re panicking,” I tried to state calmly at the blonde’s increasing staccato speech.  
  
Konketsu chimed in, “Taylor, I’ve got a bad feeling about this too. We should listen to her if even Tattletale is this panicked.”  
  
She turned to face me, “Of course I’m panicking, I’m goddamn shitting myself. This thing just levelled a mountain Ichor, that’s on par with the Endbringers and we have no clue what it is. It might be a new one. All I know is that it’s coming here and it’s probs going to kill half our Thinker department, which happens to include me. Yes, I’m panicking.”  
  
She spun on her heels, pointing at the giant threat map the Thinkers had created. Frankly I thought it was a bad idea, it just seemed to make everything seem grim.  
  
“Remember when you asked about the Endbringers attacking us? Everything in this shitty world gets hit the moment it looks like it can make a change. Right now, that’s us. I already deployed the shield, the guns, every fucking automated defense system the city has, but we need everything,” She said as she pointed at the defense consoles, half the board already lit green and the rest quickly changing to it.  
  
I couldn’t help but agree with her assessment, something strong enough to do that could destroy our headquarters. We had to treat it as if it might.  
  
“Right,” I said, taking charge as I projected my voice. “Endbringer sirens?”  
  
“Active, all teams are reporting and transporting to HQ as we speak,” Hunch replied calmly.  
  
“Precog interference?” I mentally went through the list of defenses we had.  
  
“Precog interference is go,” Deepcover checked in.  
  
“BFG?” The acronym had ended up sticking.  
  
“BFG is go,” Eleven confirmed from her station.  
  
“Defense teams?”  
  
“Defense teams are mobile and en route,” Networker verified, coordinating the incoming capes.  
  
“Deploy Tailor projects one through six.”  
  
“Deploying,” Appraiser replied, relaying the orders to the rest of the Tinkers.  
  
I gave a sharp nod and turned towards the exit, “All lights are green then, I’m going to get my team and head out there. Console is yours Tattletale.”  
  
A crack broke me from my exit. I turned to face the group and saw Deepcover crumple to the ground as a woman in a suit and fedora deflected his arm to the side and neatly delivered a kick to his knee. Networker pulled a pistol from his belt, firing shots off right at the woman. She sidestepped them effortlessly. No, not sidestepped, she was never in the line of fire to begin with.  
  
Tattletale shouted, “Stop, stop! It won’t work!”  
  
Konketsu roused from his own musings at the threat, murmuring, “Something’s wrong Taylor, be careful.”  
  
“I kind of noticed,” I muttered in return.  
  
The woman spoke, “I’m not here to fight. We need to talk.”  
  
A sudden recognition snapped into place in my brain, “You’re the woman from when Alexandria killed Bonesaw. Contessa.”  
  
A nod. “Yes. I’m part of Cauldron and I’ll answer your questions if you come with me.”  
  
“Why should we trust you? We could just arrest you right here, even if you did manage to sneak this far in,” Spire asked, levelling a Tinkertech pipe rifle at her.  
  
Tattletale sighed, “Because right now, she could beat us.”  
  
Deepcover pulled himself upright, steadying himself on the chair. “How?”  
  
The woman spoke again, “My power is that I win. If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve already.”  
  
“That’s reaaaaal inspiring. Hands where I can see ‘em,” snarked Clockblocker from the doorway. Aegis, Kid Win, and Vista flanked him as half a dozen other capes could be heard running down the halls to secure the level.  
  
I put a hand up. “It’s not, but I’ll go anyway. If she has answers, we need them. If she doesn’t, she’s still a wanted criminal and I’ll arrest her.”  
  
The rest of my team surrounded me, two on each side. Vista snorted, “We’re going with you of course.”  
  
I shook my head, “No, we need everyone here for whatever that threat is.”  
  
The woman spoke up, “You can bring them if you want, he won’t hit here for at least several hours.”  
  
He?  
  
The tension in the air was thick as I eventually nodded, gesturing for them to come join me. All four quickly flanked me, watching the woman like a group of hawks.  
  
“If you’re lying…” I left the rest of the threat unspoken.  
  
“It wouldn’t help either of us for me to do so.” She turned and spoke into thin air, “Door.”  
  
A white rectangle appeared right before her, a portal to Cauldron. I remembered it from the visions we had all had during the fight with Bonesaw. There was no doubt that this was the same mysterious abductor that had appeared in many of the memories recounted by the Case 53s. The temptation to arrest the woman behind it all on the spot was only overridden by the pressing threat at hand. A compromise that felt far too close to the wrong kind, except that I could still arrest her afterwards.  
  
I walked through the door unhappily, led through a second door into a different room almost immediately. My eyes flicked around the room as I adjusted to the different lighting and took the scene in. The room was filled with shadowed booths surrounded by railings, panels bright and backlighting them with various names or logos. A block of letters for the Thanda, the main power behind India’s cape scene. The Suits in one booth, the King’s Men in another despite both being situated in the UK. The Guild, Narwhal and Dragon present behind their desk with Masamune and Arcturus behind them. Faultline’s Crew, surprisingly enough, was present though they had clearly picked up and lost members since I had first seen them years ago in Brockton Bay. I wondered how many had survived Leviathan or had just split ways afterwards.  
  
The room wasn’t only heroic or independents however. The Blasphemies stood behind their desk, pale white skin with an unnatural gleam glowing in the light of the panel behind them, all three holding hands. The Yangban with their gem-like helmets, looking warily in our direction as we settled into the booth. I shot them a look to let them know that I hadn’t forgotten them. My blood simmered a bit at seeing them invited here. What was such a disaster that the Yangban and the Blasphemies were here? What was Cauldron trying to pull?_ I wish I had Tattletale right now. Or any of our Thinkers. I need information if I’m going to get anything done here._  
  
Cauldron’s group stood calmly at their own booth, a stylized c at forty five degrees behind them. Doctor Mother in the center, flanked by the woman in the fedora and a man in a suit. The Number Man if I recalled correctly, his style was unique enough to pin down right away. A third shorter figure lurked behind those two, but it was too hidden in shadow to see. The setup seemed overly elaborate for a supposedly emergency meeting.  
  
The final booths were filled out by capes that I didn’t recognize as well. A group of South American capes from the logo behind them who seemed at surprisingly at ease for the tensions in the room. A cape who had a logo made of skulls around a black circle, an African warlord by the name of Moord Nag. A group with a golden coin for a symbol, possibly a mercenary group if memory served. The Fallen, backlit by a symbol made of the three Endbringers, in the thirteenth booth. I suppressed a sneer as I looked at them, they had absorbed a lot of the villains that had gone on the run from Ensemble and were currently a thorn in our side. Out of curiousity I looked up, our own logo was a stylized ball of fibers. Not our official logo, however. _Chosen for a purpose or just to bother us? _  
  
All of us had taken a seat at our booth except Aegis, who stood with his arms crossed. He looked unhappy to be near this many villains, clearly sizing them up to see if they’d be trouble. _Cauldron must have some sort of trump card in play to get this many different groups together and not worry about a fight breaking out. Tattletale had said we’d been rooting them out, but it looks like we’ve barely scratched their actual strength if they can still pull something like this. It’s good none of the Case 53s were with us. If they saw how much was left of Cauldron..._I didn’t have words to articulate the deep sense of trouble I felt from the idea. The pain, the anger, the despair that would’ve resulted wouldn’t have been something I could’ve controlled. They would’ve spilled blood; we had been incredibly lucky that they had worked with us after New York long enough for us to make amends and repair some bridges.  
  
Doctor Mother spoke in a calm voice, “Hello everyone. Unfortunately we don’t have much time.”  
  
The leader of the group of Thanda rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he spoke, “What do you wake us for? An attack in Europe, yes, but all these people?” He gestured to the room and the variety of teams.  
  
“I wish I could say that we don’t need everyone here, but to be honest the threat we’re dealing with very well could overpower all of us.” She kept her calm demeanour, almost living up to her name as she acted like a mother answering a petulant child.  
  
Everyone was on edge at that. _A threat capable of taking on all the largest parahuman groups in the world?_ The same silent thought raced through each group.  
  
She sighed, “Fifteen minutes ago, as best we can tell, Scion engaged Eidolon over the eastern edge of the Pyrenees, levelling several square miles and generating a tsunami that is about to ravage the west coast of Italy. Let me be clear here.” She paused, letting the initial statement sink in. “Eidolon is not the aggressor. Scion has gone berserk and will not stop his attack should he kill Eidolon. We are anticipating, if no one intervenes, that he will completely eradicate civilized life.”  
  
“Scion?” Adalid barked with almost a mocking smile. “This makes no sense. He is the greatest hero ever, and you are telling me he will kill us all?”  
  
The Number Man nodded, stating tersely, “Ninety-five-point-three percent chance.”  
  
Adalid kicked his feet off the desk and spun into a stand, “This is ridiculous. I do not believe it.”  
  
One of the King’s Men bobbed his head, “I agree, we’d need some sort of proof.”  
  
“As much as I’d want to show you a live feed of the action, we’d be best not to remotely view Scion unless we want to attract his attention. I believe Jack of Hearts has figured it out however.” Doctor Mother gestured to a man at the booth for the Suits.  
  
He cleared his throat and projected, “After Ensemble’s reveal of Cauldron, we did some investigating into the nature of trigger events-”  
  
“So it **is** true!” shouted one of the King’s Men accusingly.  
  
Jack of Hearts shook his hands quickly, “We just thought, maybe, we could get more heroes if we knew more about them. Or at least stop more villains from triggering. But our powers aren’t that simple. They all have similarities, as you’ve noticed. Manton limits, classifications, and so on. This is because they all come from a singular source, and that source is Scion. However...Scion isn’t human.”  
  
Doctor Mother picked up as he drifted into a pause. “Correct. Scion is not human, something many of you have speculated about in fact. Instead you can think of him as a projection. His real body is protected in a different dimension and the golden man you know is just an extension he uses to interact with us. Powers are a means of evolution for him, by distributing these powers to people he can test them, see how they interact, what works best, much like you might use a computer to quickly simulate thousands of choices. Essentially, this process ran into a problem and he can no longer evolve because part of his cycle is broken. Since then he has been wandering aimlessly, waiting for a solution to present itself, that’s been the last few decades. Something in his interaction with Eidolon today changed that, instead of being content to help, he’s turned to a new mode of operation. He’s trying destructive potentials instead.”  
  
A piece fell into place in my head and I blurted out, “You knew.”  
  
She nodded. “We did. We’ve been trying to prepare for this since Cauldron was founded.”  
  
Dragon asked from the Guild’s booth, “That’s your justification for the human experimentation, the conspiracies, all of it? Why now?”  
  
The Number Man frowned slightly, “We didn’t anticipate it. Eidolon and Scion are both exceptions, other powers have trouble modelling them. Even we didn’t expect for this to happen right now. Our projections had put us at having another two to three years and better forces available then.”  
  
“So you were going to continue until then. That’s right?” I said accusingly, feeling the blood began to boil.  
  
Doctor Mother merely nodded with her reply, “That’s correct. A few more years would’ve given you time to spread COVERS, which we predicted would greatly reduce casualties. Additionally we might’ve been able to find another Eidolon or Alexandria during that time, someone who could stand on the front line against Scion.”  
  
Adalid spat begrudgingly, “Why? Why is he destroying things now? It makes no sense.”  
  
“Eventually he would have anyway. Being a hero was a stalling tactic he adopted, keeping the process running while hoping he would stumble on a way to fix it before it ran to the end. Our models placed our best chances at him finding out in three years and the latest model had him switching tactics in fourteen. Either way, he always will switch to destruction because he will never find a way to fix the process. That lack of a solution will drive him to try other options,” She filled in.  
  
It was so much to take in. Scion, the first and greatest hero, was currently having a fight to the death with Eidolon over Europe. Scion wasn’t even human. He, it, was some sort of creature that gave out powers as a way to test them. None of it made sense, but in the back of my brain was the quiet realization that none of it was distinctly wrong. Nothing I knew contradicted what I was being told.  
  
_Pull it apart like you’ve learned. Is it provably false? No. Is it provably true? Maybe, but not yet. What advantage is there in lying to us? Could be trying to eliminate Scion for some reason, possibly to make their goals easier. How likely is it they’re lying to us? Low. To Ensemble, maybe, but to a dozen organizations which all have Thinkers who will be on this the minute any of us leave...A ruse that would survive that kind of scrutiny would be something like a Simurgh conspiracy theory. What’s the damage if they are? High, Scion is the only hero fully capable of repelling an Endbringer. So low chance of a trick, but a high risk if it is. _  
  
I didn’t like it. If the risk was low and the damage was low, I’d be in, but the Endbringers were our biggest problem. Losing our only trump card on them was dangerous. If Cauldron was telling the truth, it didn’t matter because Scion would kill us all first, but if they were lying then we would be screwed in a few years.  
  
Dragon asked, “What is the problem with his process? Can we fix it in order to stop him?”  
  
“No, giving him the solution would kill us all anyway, wouldn’t it?” Jack of Hearts asked as he turned to Doctor Mother knowingly.  
  
“It would. The end point of his cycle would be the destruction of this Earth and all parallel Earths to power the next cycle. We couldn’t fix it anyway, a cycle requires two entities to complete and his partner was killed,” Doctor Mother said.  
  
I perked up, “Killed? By what?”  
  
“By Contessa.” She glanced briefly at the woman in the fedora. “When the entities first arrived she was able to kill his partner, but they blocked her power off from viewing them directly after that. Thus why we’ve had to go to such roundabout measures.”  
  
There was another pregnant pause in the room. Everyone present had a rough idea of how powerful Contessa was, merely being around her gave you the idea she was dangerous. To hear that she had killed Scion’s partner and been so dangerous that the entities had personally limited her powers was a different level of power however. She was, without a doubt, the strongest parahuman in the room, if not the world. Maybe Eidolon could contest with her, since he seemed to be fighting Scion, but he was usually acknowledged as the strongest cape in the world other than Scion. Her power, as she had said, was to win. She hadn’t explained more, but if I had to guess it meant she was a Thinker, capable of finding the winning solution to any scenario. What limits she had were unknown, but if I had to guess I’d say there were very few.  
  
Cauldron was suddenly more dangerous than we had thought, again. The portals and trump cards had been bad enough. To know that they had the capacity to kill whatever Scion really was, well that was something else. We couldn’t trust them either, they had shown they clearly considered the ends to justify the means. That meant that if they thought they’d be better off sacrificing us or screwing us over they’d do it in a heartbeat.  
  
Faultline spoke up, “So you’re saying we can’t flee then, alternate Earths are out. And we can’t talk to him because we can’t fix his cycle. But if your Contessa can’t beat him, what do you expect us to do?”  
  
I spoke up, “To fight back anyway. Protect people. I know you like running away when things get tough, but there’s nowhere to run for this. We have to fight, and I’m sure as hell happier knowing that now so we don’t waste time.”  
  
Faultline glared at the rebuke but Doctor Mother spoke before she could, “That’s the idea. We’re not asking you for help, what we want is to share resources and solutions. If we’re all aware of the problem, we can combat it. We’ll be giving you access to our portal network, you only have to ask for a door to somewhere and it’ll appear, as long as Scion isn’t within a thousand miles.”  
  
“Good, we can start evacuating people then. Spread the population out, give them as many supplies as we can and then leave them alone, and hope Scion doesn’t bother them. If we spread them out across as many Earths as possible, we should be able to minimize damage,” Masamune chimed in from the Guild’s booth.  
  
It was a clever plan, Bonesaw’s memories had revealed not everyone was from this Earth, which meant the portals could access alternate Earths. Even if Scion could travel between them, finding widely dispersed pockets of people would be difficult. Hopefully difficult enough that they would survive. We had to treat this like an Endbringer attack. Get people to safer locations with some supplies, engage the enemy, evaluate possible goals and try to prevent them.  
  
Except this time we had to win. No more driving the enemy back. If Scion had truly gone berserk, we had to kill him to win.  
  
“On to the next order of business, the Birdcage. A number of the strongest capes with the best offensive powers are contained there…”  
  
All eyes turned towards me. While Dragon ran the Birdcage, Ensemble was in charge of managing the things around it, having taken over those responsibilities from the Protectorate.  
  
I kept a stoic facade, “Opening the Birdcage would introduce too many chaotic elements. We can’t have dozens of villains trying to stab us in the back while we coordinate.”  
  
The Thanda surprisingly were the first to counter. “How about a few select individuals? The most powerful and the most likely to help.”  
  
There were murmurs amongst the booths as the idea was considered. The Birdcage housed only the most despicable villains, either too dangerous or too hard to kill for any other solution. Insane creatures like Acid Bath and Glaistig Uaine. More firepower would help, but could we take down Scion without it? So far he was only fighting Eidolon. I was inclined to disagree and obstruct any opening of the Cage. Anyone in there was in there for a reason and we didn’t need to make deals with devils.  
  
We might be able to beat Scion without them. Then again, if Cauldron was so concerned about Scion that they were suggesting it, did they know we couldn’t? Cauldron was the only group that had a real idea of Scion’s power. We had the footage from Endbringer fights and we had the energy readings from his fight with Eidolon, but that left a lot in the air. If I said no and we did end up needing them, would we be too weak by then for it to help? Was it better to frontload our strength rather than spread our options out over time?  
  
There was so much we didn’t know. I had to treat it like an Endbringer fight we couldn’t retreat from. _ So what would we do if Behemoth was attacking and we had no escape? We know we can’t kill Behemoth with our current firepower, so we need more of it. The other groups here will help, but we don’t know if they’ll actually cooperate with us. So what do I bet on: Us being strong enough we can hold out even if we need them or frontloading our strength?_  
  
I shook my head, “Some of them might be useful, but we don’t know if they’ll cooperate or hurt our efforts.”  
  
Adalid surprisingly agreed. “If we beat Scion only to have the world’s worst criminals at large, it would not matter. Keep them caged.”  
  
The King of Cups spoke, “I understand your concern, but you weren’t in Europe. We felt the pressure wave in England from his blows. I don’t think we can afford to turn any help down, no matter what the source.”  
  
“If we had more information, or if everyone is in agreement, I would consider it, but I’m not willing to throw open the doors to the Birdcage yet,” I answered firmly.  
  
“How many are in favor of releasing some individuals from the Birdcage?” King of Cups asked.  
  
One by one hands went up, but they faltered and stopped. The Thanda, the Suits, Faultline’s Crew, the Blasphemies all were in favor. The King’s Men, the Guild, and the CUI even failed to raise their hands. With less than half in favor I was secure in my refusal.  
  
Doctor Mother’s lips thinned into a line. “I suppose that’s that for now. We can reconsider if the situation changes.”  
  
The CUI hadn’t spoken up. Were they just sticking to their isolationist party line or had they learned to keep down in my presence I wondered. I was still of half a mind to tear them apart, crisis or not. My drive for revenge, for justice, had driving me to where I was now after all. It was nothing if not strong. I had only tolerated the idea of the ceasefire when they were an abstract, something I could distance myself from and focus on the Endbringer threat. Every time I saw them, I remembered the damage they had done, the heroes they had killed. I couldn’t treat with them, even when I knew we had bigger threats. I was lucky Aegis had talked me down from total war, but it didn’t make seeing them any easier.  
  
Speaking of Aegis, he stood beside me as stalwart as ever. I leaned over to whisper to my friends, “Thoughts?”  
  
Vista was first to speak, “Not everyone’s convinced, but Cauldron’s running scared I think. No way they invite so many enemies of theirs unless they’re for real.”  
  
Aegis nodded solemnly. “Agreed. I think we might be in more trouble than we know. Perhaps keeping the Cage closed was the wrong choice.”  
  
I raised an eyebrow but took the critique for what it was. Aegis had a point that we didn’t have a good estimate, we could be underestimating.  
  
I turned to the room again, “Can we get a viewing of Scion now? I’d rather get an idea of what we’re facing.”  
  
Doctor Mother shook her head. “I’m afraid not. We’re limiting any observation of him to as little as possible so he can’t follow it back to us. We aren’t willing to risk our base.”  
  
It was fair enough. I didn’t know how he might see through some sort of remote camera but if they were concerned about it, maybe it was a risk. On the other hand, if this was all a trick it would be convenient to play up that aspect and avoid having to show proof. I just couldn’t take Cauldron at their word, not after what we had gone through because of them.  
  
Doctor Mother stood up and spoke, “I believe that’ll be all for now. We’ll be in touch shortly with each of you to help coordinate. A portal will appear at the back of your booth to return you to where you were met.”  
  
The booths bustled with activity as the various groups prepared to leave. The Representatives of Cauldron seemed calm enough, gathering Doctor Mother’s notes. The woman in the fedora seemed to talk into thin air, something I couldn’t hear.  
  
A moment later a voice appeared next to me. “Phooey. She’s creepy.”  
  
I recoiled slightly, blood already leaking out before I realized it was Imp. That she had followed along and only revealed herself now just showed how troublesome her power could be. We were lucky she seemed content to play up her mischief on the heroes’ side.  
  
Clockblocker whispered, “Did you just try to trail Cauldron in their own base?”  
  
Imp grinned under the mask, evident in her voice, “Yeah. Fedora lady is creepy though, she knew I was there even with my power on.”  
  
Clockblocker chuckled lowly. “Damn, that’s ballsy. Hey boss, can we make her a member of the Elite Four?”  
  
I resisted the urge to facepalm, only barely. “No, for one that would be five and we’d have to rename the team. Second, Imp turn your power back on. Last thing we need is everyone here thinking we brought a powerful Stranger to spy on them.”  
  
Imp saluted and why was I staring at empty space? I frowned and gestured to the group to follow as we headed back home through the portal at the back of our booth. Immediately we appeared in the command center of our headquarters at the top of Brockton Bay. A dozen Thinkers looked at us in near panic, several of them halfway to a heart attack. I supposed surprising them after they had spent a week fretting over their predictions hadn’t been helpful. Tattletale waved her hands at the rest of them with a shooing motion, hissing at them.  
  
She turned to us and started, “How’d it go? That bad? Shit.”  
  
She read the mood of our body language immediately and I decided to just preempt the next question with my answer.  
  
“It’s Scion.”  
  
The room went deadly quiet and Tattletale looked at us bug-eyed. “Seriously?”  
  
I nodded solemnly.  
  
“Well fuck me. Never thought the big golden statue would go homicidal. Alright, spill, what’s his objectives? How do we stop him?”  
  
I sighed, gesturing to Vista to answer. Vista obliged, filling in for me. “He doesn’t seem to have one and we don’t know. Apparently Scion is the source of our powers and he’s actually some sort of alien. He has a cycle or process that he has to complete, but it’s broken because his partner died, and he can’t now so he’s fighting Eidolon out of boredom,” She spoke with an edge to her voice.  
  
Tattletale whistled, “Seriously, you guys aren’t fucking with me? No, you aren’t. Okay. Okay, that makes sense, kind of. Not at fucking all. Ugh, gimme a minute here.” She closed her eyes and then smacked herself in the face.  
  
“Nope, not dreaming. Super,” she said to herself, more deadpan now.  
  
Hunch spoke up from his console, “He’s fighting Eidolon you said.”  
  
We all nodded along, not having much more on why he was.  
  
Hunch frowned, screwing up his face in thought. “Help me out here Tattletale. We have an alien that can’t finish his cycle or whatever, stuck on our world, fighting Eidolon. What’s his next step?”  
  
Tattletale furrowed her brow, “Okay, okay, yeah sure. Let’s see, if he’s fighting Eidolon some beef went down. Eidolon threatened him? Close, but not quite. Eidolon goaded him, he was already annoyed. He was annoyed because Eidolon disgusts him, bothers him. We saw it when he showed up to Sri Lanka, he sneered at the Case 53s. Something about his powers.”  
  
Hunch followed up, “His powers come from a different source.”  
  
Tattletale obviously had something click into place as she jumped up, “His powers are from the other one! That’s how Cauldron has been making powers, they had something from the partner. He’s seeing his dead partner when he looks at Eidolon. Eidolon pissed him off and he decided to wipe him out, but Eidolon must’ve fought back.”  
  
“And when he fought back, Scion changed. Something started to slide into place. Before he had been...bored? Complacent? I’m not sure, but it feels vaguely right. Okay, so a lonely bored alien fights Eidolon out of anger, what’s changing? Eidolon didn’t lose yet right?”  
  
Appraisal shook his head, speaking up, “Not if the energy bursts over Turkey are any indication.”  
  
Hunch continued, “So he’s getting the first good fight he’s had in decades. The Endbringers always just run from him.”  
  
Tattletale winced, muttering, “Does he even notice the difference? Can he feel? He feels, just differently. No. I don’t have enough information about him. If he’s bored or just mindless, maybe this is giving him stimulation? Stimulation starved creatures tend to be attracted to anything they can find. If that’s the case he might continue to seek stimulation.”  
  
She threw her hands up. “I’m pushing my power, but it feels like it slides off things about him. I don’t know enough to push any further, I need something. Can we get a view up?”  
  
Uncle called out, “Holy sh- Uh, our network has gone dark. Everything looking at Turkey just got overloaded.”  
  
Networker was cradling his head in what looked to be a Thinker headache from having the equipment he was channeling his power through destroyed suddenly.  
  
Dragon had patched in at some point, having access to come and go freely. “Looks like an EMP knocked out most allied equipment. Restarting from furthest out to closest to the approximate center.”  
  
We held our breath as the giant view screens slowly began to light back up as things rebooted and came online. Any views we had were muddy, a combination of low quality cameras and clearly some sort of chaos. We waited as the images cleared and the building shook with a rumble.  
  
“What was that?” I called out, hand drifting to my scissorblade.  
  
Dragon replied slowly, “Pressure wave. Turkey is gone.”  
  
“Gone?” Hunch said, voice raising a few notes in worry.  
  
The images of what was left of the infrastructure in the area resolved and we saw a massive dust storm raging. What little we could see of the landscape looked blasted and barren. And that was what was at the outskirts of the detonation too. I heard a low whistle as the reality started to sink in across the command staff. Whatever their duel had done, it had just wiped a sizable country from the map. Millions dead in an instant. The fallout from such in terms of the current clouds of debris, the disruption to infrastructure, the refugee crisis that would result, all would kill thousands more most likely.  
  
We didn’t stand a chance against that. Brockton Bay may be the second most fortified place in the country, only missing first due to the Birdcage, but that was an attack that had scaled hundreds of miles. We had built from stone, steel, even titanium. None of that would shield us. Our forcefield might give it pause, but for how long, we couldn’t know.  
  
I turned to Tattletale, “Cauldron granted us use of their portal network. Call for a door and it’ll appear. Split the command staff, I want half of them dedicated to evacuating Brockton Bay and all major metropolitan area in the US. Find alternate Earths, remote areas, anywhere. Get them supplies, get them out there.”  
  
There was a lot of silence in the room, especially for a room full of Thinkers. Pale, blood drained faces sat watching the view screens unbelievingly.  
  
Tattletale raised a saluted a bit too snappily, “Sir yes sir.” She turned and raised her voice at the rest of the room, “Alright listen the fuck up. We’re putting the Endbringer sirens up countrywide. Anyone who’s not on the Endbringer combat operations team is on fucking evacuation duty. Civilians will be headed to shelters. We’ve got teleporters, Cauldron has portals, get as many fucking people out of there as possible. Accord is in charge of evacuations, god fucking help us.”  
  
“Everyone on combat operations, get the fuck moving. I want all eyes on the shiny golden bastard and I wanted every cannon, railgun, mass driver, laser, and Tinkertech bastardization of the above pointed at his ass before he’s halfway across the ocean,” She shouted, pushing panic below a veneer of badassery. I had to give her credit, she could be a pain in the ass but she didn’t buckle under pressure.  
  
As the Endbringer sirens blared to life around the country I could imagine the panic it was causing. We hadn’t wanted to spook the civilians if we could help it before, but now that we knew. Well, if only we had known earlier. Even if Cauldron had told us, I doubt we’d have believed them. Scion killing millions was just too hard to fathom and Cauldron too untrustworthy. Probably why they hadn’t told us, they knew we’d just have to see for ourselves.  
  
I watched as the room shifted in a grim but determined motion. Everyone in the room was more somber than before, if that were possible. Before we hadn’t anticipated millions to die. Maybe hundreds, after all an assault on our base that stymied our Thinkers implied quite a powerful enemy, but this. This was as bad as Kyushu. Worse even, in that it wasn’t going to stop. Scion could do this to every country one by one and we had nothing to drive him off. The only things close to his power were the Endbringers and Eidolon, and somehow I doubted Eidolon had survived that. And the Endbringers helping us? As if.  
  
Computers flashed as reports came in, both from other organizations and from what sensor equipment we had abroad. Scion was depicted as a spiky golden icon on the map, question marks and dashed lines plotting out possible paths. He moved too fast for us to track visually, we had to rely on catching him in the brief moments he paused. I watched tensely as we waited for the first confirmation of his direction, the flashing golden icon over Turkey paralyzingly still.  
  
A sighting. A new icon appeared over Tunis, a golden line connecting it to the faded one over Turkey. He was moving over North Africa then, not the right direction to be coming here, not yet at least. He was known to meander, but we had a few minutes at least. He tended to wander slowly, stopping somewhere and then spending his time. The Thinkers rearranged themselves, splitting half the room for evacuation and rescue and the other half for combat operations. Citrine bustled in, Accord following behind her in his typically immaculate costume. His lips were deformed into a snarl however, not making the slightest effort to mask his displeasure.  
  
I grimaced at him and he inclined his head just slightly before continuing on to take charge of evacuation. There had been that moment of understanding. He was angry, but he saw that we were angry too and so he would remember we were in this together. Hopefully. He still had flights of fancy sometimes.  
  
Konketsu spoke from my chest, “I’m not sure we can win this fight. We’re tough, but that power is something on a level above us. Not that we can’t try of course.”  
  
I frowned a bit, mumbling down to him, “I know you’ve promised before, but are you okay with this? If anyone can take him, it’s us. You could die.”  
  
“And you certainly would without me.” He scoffed, “As if I’d abandon my partner, even if it kills me. I’ll be with you Taylor, forever and always.”  
  
I sighed. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. It’s my fault you’re always getting dragged into things like this. If I hadn’t dragged you into my revenge on Bonesaw…”  
  
Konketsu shushed me. “Then I would’ve been afraid and alone for who knows how long. No one else in the world to speak to me, no one to explain what happened, no one to introduce me to Parian and the joys of a good ironing. Taylor, you saved my life that day. And I’ve saved yours. And I don’t regret a minute of that time since I met you.”  
  
I muttered, “Don’t say such corny things, you sound like a character from a movie who’s about to get killed off.”  
  
Konketsu chuckled lowly, “I’m sure Clockblocker would give me a lecture on inviting death flags, if he could actually hear me.”  
  
“I’m sure he would.” I watched as the board kept blinking, Scion still hadn’t been re-sighted since Tunis. Then he was there, several hundred miles south and in the Congo. _What could he possibly be doing in the Congo?_ I scrunched my brow and watched. Tattletale slapped her face and looked over to Dragon.  
  
“He’s tracking down Ash Beast! Dragon, get me last known location of all S and A class threats, displayed in black and red respectively.”  
  
The screen started to populate with icons. A black diamond over the Congo with a question mark in the top corner, a small colored circle giving an estimated location for Ash Beast. The golden icon sat right atop of it. Other icons started to appear, a number of red diamonds across neighboring African states, probably various warlords. Hundreds scattered across Africa, dozens in the area Scion was in.  
  
After a moment she grimly added, “Include heroes in that too. Blue please. Green for allied forces.”  
  
The map lit up as more icons filled in. Not as many blue icons in Africa and almost no green ones. We hadn’t made good inroads to the continent yet. A combination of misgivings over past colonialism and rampant infighting had made it almost impossible to make progress anywhere but the most stable countries and those were the ones that needed the cooperation least. While the ratio of heroes to villains was, on average, one to three it looked more like one to five in Africa just from eyeballing the map. I grimaced at the reality of it. There would be time to help them after Scion was dealt with, but right now we couldn’t possibly divert more resources.  
  
Tattletale muttered darkly, “Yup, that’s it. He’s tracking down the strongest capes, starting with the closest.”  
  
I raised my voice, “Accord, expand evacuations to any allied or friendly countries and after that to neutral ones.”  
  
He frowned. “We do not even have time for the United States alone.”  
  
I brushed that aside, commanding, “Figure it out. You wanted to fix the world, you’ve got your chance to save it instead.” I left no room for retort in my tone. I appreciated Accord, but right now we had to push ourselves and that included him. On his own he’d evacuate our most useful assets first and plan for long term sustainability. I needed him to drop that right now and go for as many people as possible, damn the long term. It would make him unhappy, but if he couldn’t adapt he wouldn’t have remained a powerhouse for so long.  
  
Someone called out, “New trajectory, looks like it might be Siberia.”  
  
Hunch cursed, “Sleeper.”  
  
Kid Win bit his lip, “Ash Beast lost already?”  
  
Tattletale simply spat out, “Yeah.”  
  
I thought through my options. The longer he spent chasing down S-class threats the better, it would give us some time to evacuate. Maybe a paltry hour or two at most at the current rate. At some point he would wander here though, looking for his next opponent. _Who’s strongest in North America?  
  
Myself, Chevalier, maybe the Elite Four as a unit. Dragon, now that she’s unchained, but she has only had a week to make use of it. Some villains to. The Fallen’s leaders. The Butcher. Glaistig Uaine and- shit._  
  
My thoughts ground to a halt as I stormed over to Dragon’s monitor. Her digital avatar turned to face me and I spoke quickly, “We need to open the Birdcage. He’s going to come for it.”  
  
Dragon, to her credit, immediately understood. I didn’t know how her technology kept the Birdcage secure inside a mountain or how the spare warping worked, but if Scion decided to dig his way through the Rockies and break it then I had the feeling it wouldn’t end well for the surrounding region. Assuming he didn’t just nuke the entire thing, he could split it open and we’d have hundreds of the worst criminals in the world flooding into the heart of America. Our response capability would be crippled, most of our forces would be needed to re-capture the villains.  
  
She replied, “I’ll start spinning down security but it’ll take time. We need somewhere to put them though, if they break loose they’ll wreck the country.”  
  
“We’ll only take the strongest out. Disable the security for them and we’ll let Cauldron portal them to the entrance where I am. I’ll explain the situation and maybe some of them will be smart enough not to stab us in the back before Scion hunts them down. It’s the best we can hope for.”  
  
“Door to the Birdcage, the entrance,” I said to no one in particular.  
  
  



	31. Interlude 10: Theodore

### Interlude 10: Theodore

  
  
Theo waved as another customer left the shop in high spirits. Working at Parian’s Atelier was hard, often involving long days, but he enjoyed the work. After Ensemble had formed Parian hadn’t been able to come to the shop much anymore, but that had the opposite effect on sales. As she had risen in fame in the cape scene during Ensemble’s bloody takeover more and more had flocked to her shop, wanting the prestige of something from her original collection. Increasingly rich and bourgie customers had appeared. The street they were on in Boston was gentrifying as a result of their presence, which was just plain weird.  
  
Theo hadn’t seen Parian in three months, but he assured each and every customer that their order would be taken care of to the highest standard. They were too. Jack was a deft hand with a needle and always got the cuts just right. Theo had learned from Parian herself and felt fairly confident in his own abilities. Together they did most of the work since Parian had been consumed by her responsibilities.  
  
The shop certainly had its oddities. Things tended to just appear when he needed them and the stock room always remained immaculate. He had long since chalked it up to his naturally being an organized person and Jack being polite and following suit. Jack himself was a bit odd, always cheery and bright-eyed and with a tendency to love the sound of his own voice. He was a natural salesman though, much better than Theo. Theo wasn’t bad with people per say, but he was more used to appeasing them than trying to convince them to listen to him.  
  
He loved the shop with all it’s little quirks in the end. It had saved him from being homeless, taking him in as an employee after he had fled Brockton Bay. Not many places had been willing to hire an underage teenager with no legal documents. Fewer would be willing to hire one with his history if they had found out.  
  
He watched as a customer perused the suits they had, Jack waltzing over in a perfect mix of casual professionalism.  
  
“Interested in a new suit is it? We have quite the assortment, do you need any help?” Jack purred out.  
  
The man inhaled sharply, tilting his chin up, “I was hoping to get something conservative but striking. I have a meeting this week, want to strike just the right notes for it.”  
  
Jack nodded sympathetically, “Ah of course, looking just the part for big business meetings is vital just as you say. Here, take a look at these single-breasted jackets with tight silhouettes. Much better than the retro style that’s been coming around this summer.” Jack showed off the suit, taking one off the rack and stretching it out for the man to see. “A suit like that will be out of fashion before you can blink. No, a man like you has financial sense. He plans for the future while still making sharp choices in the present.” He put the suit up against the man so that he could view it as if on himself.  
  
“Now we can have these styles also in cotton and linen. No need to be afraid of a few wrinkles when the summer fabrics will let you breath a bit more. A good dry cleaners will keep them straight anyway.” He led the man along the rack like he was a sheepdog with cattle. An odd analogy to pop into Theo’s head, but he couldn’t deny that it fit somehow.  
  
The man nodded along, “I see. I do like the style, it’s older but it has a little bit of flair to it. These are all life fiber fitted I assume? With how dangerous things can be these days, I certainly want the extra protection you know.”  
  
Jack smiled as he continued, “Of course. We only want the best for our customers, both in fashion and safety. All our apparel has a life fiber component to keep you hale and healthy, be it from a nasty spill on those icy Boston sidewalks or some upstart thugs.”  
  
The customer seemed satisfied at that, happy to nod along with Jack’s every word despite the stern frown he seemed to wear at all times. A bit unfair of Theo perhaps, but to be fair the man’s expression had not changed once since entering the shop. For someone so agreeable he certainly did seem quite uptight. It reminded Theo of some of the dinners with Max and his friends. He shivered a little at the memory. No, just because the man was stern and rich didn’t mean he was like them. Theo knew better than to stereotype people. Of anyone in the world, he should know that.  
  
As Jack took care of the customer, Theo people watched the other customers in the store. There was an art to it. He couldn’t merely stare at them or people felt like he was leering or suspicious of them. Meanwhile he didn’t want to look like he was ignoring them, rich customers hated feeling ignored. So he had to balance between looking at them often enough and friendly enough that they felt they could ask him for something, but not so often they felt he was creepy. Lastly, he had to watch them enough not to get too bored. Staring at the register would do that.  
  
The shop always had a few people milling about. Usually they were mostly gawkers, people who wanted to look at the pretty and frankly overpriced clothes while imagining how nice it would be to be able to afford them. He understood that, it’s not like he could afford them either. A group of teenage girls, chit-chatting about their favorite designs. An older woman in a suit, severely considering a few of the other suits. She might actually buy something, or at least bother him. Best to keep an eye on her in case she wanted him. A boy, tall and lanky and chatting away on his phone. A bit rude, Theo thought to himself.  
  
“You don’t have to shout,” The boy replied brusquely into his phone as he walked down the other row of clothing.  
  
“There’s still no soup,” He said when he reached the end. Theo was about ready to get up and offer to help him, but paused at the last second. Why was he looking for soup in a designer fashion store?  
  
Just as he settled back into place, four figures wearing black masks rushed into the shop, holding guns in front of them. One in the back held a scepter and had a bit more of a costume to him. A cape then? One fired into the ceiling and people began to shout and scream.  
  
“HANDS IN THE AIR!” The one in the front shouted, gesticulating with some sort of automatic rifle. Theo didn’t really know guns that well. Sure, he knew how to shoot. Max never would’ve let him get away without learning some things, but that didn’t mean he knew anything about how to visually identify guns.  
  
Theo reluctantly raised his hands. He didn’t really want a fight. They had a panic button, which he hit with his foot. Most panic buttons went to the police or local switchboard. Theirs went to Ensemble directly. No one fucked with Parian these days. Easier to let them take care of this than trying to play hero.  
  
The leader, he presumed at least, shouted again, “Out the door, move!” He pointed to Jack and then Theo, “Not you two fruitcakes. Don’t move, cause we only need one of you alive.”  
  
Jack looked oddly bemused at the situation, a weird clash of emotion on his face at the predicament. Theo didn’t sigh, but he wanted to. Jack was nice and all, but last thing he wanted was the man going off and doing something right now. He had a habit of chatting people up at the absolutely worst times.  
  
People filed out of the store slowly, hands over their heads. One or two got a bit of a push and he thought the kid must’ve given them some lip on the way out from how he got shoved. The store emptied out and the robbers closed the door behind them, for all the good it would do. The walls were made of glass to show off the products, as was the door. Closing it would stop the police for all of half a second. Well, Theo wouldn’t complain if these weren’t the smartest criminals he’d ever met.  
  
The leader grinned through the ski-mask he wore, “Alright, here’s the deal: you’re going to bundle up all the nice life fiber suits and any spare fibers in the back, empty the register, and not try anything. Got it?”  
  
Jack smiled slightly, “Of course. We mainly take card though, you’re going to be a bit disappointed in the register I’m afraid.”  
  
The man shrugged, “We’ll see about that. Just make sure you don’t miss a single thread, we want every inch of that Tinker cloth.”  
  
The mannequin behind the team of would-be thieves started to move ever so slightly and Theo’s eyes went wide. It held a white finger to its lips and Theo clamped his mouth shut, the thieves arguing about how much they would get from this haul. In a swift motion the mannequin shoved two of them to the ground, its leg detaching and shooting out to hit a third in the gut. The last one left standing tried to wave his scepter at it and looked confused when all he got for his trouble was a long distended arm to the side of the head.  
  
The mannequin collected itself, reeling back in body parts as it stumbled back to shape. Theo heard an excited gasp from beside him as Jack exclaimed, “So that’s where you’ve been Alan!”  
  
The mannequin, no, The Mannequin turned and gave a small dispassionate wave to Jack and Theo felt the blood rush from his head. Jack. But there were lots of Jacks. Mannequin. Good at cutting fabric. Good with sharp objects. Living mannequin. Ambush. Oh god. I’m going to die.  
  
The world spun and Theo felt a dull thud as his rear connected with the floor. The sound of a clicking tongue and a concerned voice above him, “Tut tut, I do you think you’ve scared dear Theo half to death.” A series of scratches and clicks came from across the shop.  
  
“No, I’m not being snarky, I actually like the kid. Besides, you should know I’m on vacation, you’ve been sitting in that window for god knows how many months.”  
  
More clicks and scratches.  
  
“Yes, I realized that. Why do you think I’m not wearing any? Thank you for the complete lack of warning by the by.”  
  
A short click and scratch.  
  
Jack sighed a bit, “Alright, fair enough.” Theo felt Jack towering over him as he tried to get his bearings. “Why don’t we let bygones be bygones for now? Take the hooligans out and make sure we weren’t seen while I make him some tea.”  
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder and another under his arm as he was gently lifted up. The calming voice of Jack in his ear, “I’m very sorry about that, Alan did always lack manners. Let’s get you a nice cup of tea…”  
  
As Theo was led to sit in the backroom where either tea or death was waiting, he couldn’t help but think to himself that he always ended up having the most bizarre adventures.  
  
In the background the TV mutedly turned to an emergency broadcast, accompanied by a single picture of golden light. Jack turned to look at it and for the first time in his life he saw Jack look genuinely worried.  
  
“Oh dear,” he said in a quiet voice before projecting back into the main floor of the shop, “Alan! I do think you should see this…”  
  
The series of clicks and scratches that came as Mannequin slinked alongside the wall wasn’t as disturbing as the evacuation notice that scrolled across the television. Ensemble was calling for a mass evacuation of the entire continental United States. Everyone was to head to the nearest Endbringer shelter as soon as possible with whatever supplies they could carry. Any and all parahumans were being asked to report to the closest Ensemble base. Theo swallowed as a sickly acidic feeling pushed up his throat.  
  
Theo looked up slowly to the two, “Mr. Jack, we have to do something.” His voice pleading.  
  
Jack Slash looked down to him, disdain and concern criss-crossing his face. “Ah.” He gave a bitter chuckle. “You’re a good kid Theo. I suppose we do.”  
  
“Alan, vacation's over.”  
  



	32. Chapter 21: Incomplete

### Chapter 21: Incomplete

  
  
I stepped through the doorway into what looked like a long concrete parking garage. There were no spaces drawn out and no entrance that I could see, just the dimly lit concrete pillars and an elevator at the end.  
  
_The Birdcage. So this is what people last see before they’re locked inside forever._  
  
I shivered a little at the thought. I had never been too concerned with the Birdcage. Few criminals in Brockton Bay or New York during my time as a Ward had even been considered for it and as a hero I didn’t feel at risk from it. Even during my fight with Alexandria and Eidolon it wasn’t a concern. Either I’d have succeeded or I’d be dead, but being caged just wasn’t a likely outcome.  
  
That being said, I had a more real understanding of just how horrific it was from seeing the entrance. I could imagine being transported here, dumped inside what could be a set from a desolate horror film, knowing that once you descended you would never return. It almost felt like entering hell. Appropriate, since many had compared the inside of the Birdcage to it.  
  
Maybe I should’ve looked harder into it. I hadn’t investigated the Birdcage much. In fact, Ensemble even maintained and utilized it much like the Protectorate had. Some monsters were too powerful and malicious for half measures. Still, I had a wriggling sense of doubt over whether such a jail could ever be called humane. Justifying committing others to a living hell wasn’t something I could just do lightly, but I hadn’t even taken the time to consider changing it before.  
  
Konketsu commented from my chest, “This place is creepy.”  
  
I bit my lip, “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”  
  
Konketsu said, “Are you sure about letting these people out?”  
  
I hesitated, “No. But Scion will come here for sure. For Glaistig Uaine if nothing else. If they’re all stuck inside, any chance they have of hurting him disappear. At least this way they might buy us some time and put up a fight. And what if in attacking the Birdcage he broke it and released everyone?”  
  
“I can’t help but notice your plan is buying time for a solution, but we don’t have that solution,” Konketsu said with a trace of anxiety.  
  
I felt the pit in my stomach acutely. “What sort of plan can we have? Scion is the strongest cape in the world by far. There’s nowhere we can hide from him effectively other than hoping we can put people far enough apart that he finds it inconvenient to hunt them down.”  
  
I threw my hands up, “All of our contingencies were made for the S-class threats, none of that included taking on something like Scion. He’s a projection of some alien mind locked away in a different dimension. From what Cauldron said, even they can’t reach the dimension he’s squirreled away in. Professor Haywire’s been dead for years and dimensional powers are incredibly rare. Maybe with time our Tinkers could make something, but time is one thing we don’t have.”  
  
Konketsu squeezed lightly. “We’ll figure something out. That Contessa supposedly killed one of his kind, so they aren’t invincible. If they needed to limit her powers, it means he can be hurt still. We just need to find a different method.”  
  
I nodded slowly. “You’re right. He’s not invincible. He’s damn close, but as long as he has some sort of weakness we can kill him.”  
  
The gears in my head felt stuck. I wanted to chew through everything I knew and find some sort of weakness or plan, but nothing was coming to me. Scion was the source of powers, he had everything. I couldn’t fight that, at best I was a really tough Brute with some impressive Shaker powers, but I didn’t constitute an existential threat. I sure couldn’t combat one.  
  
I smacked myself, feeling the sting of my hand against my cheek. No, I was better than this. I wasn’t going to let myself regress into the depressed Taylor of two years ago when things got tough. I had to find a solution. Too many people put their faith in me to let them down. When I took on the mantle of leading Ensemble, I had committed to the change in perspective I had when Dauntless died. I couldn’t be everywhere or do everything, I had to trust people and in turn, people trusted me to do my part. My part was being the head and face of Ensemble, coming up with the direction and keeping everyone motivated. I wasn’t solely responsible for defeating Scion, but I did need to keep my cool so I could direct our resources effectively. And much like I did for the Endbringers, I had to be ready to be the front line. I couldn’t fell an Endbringer, I had certainly tried, but I could protect the Tinkertech or fragile capes who might. Much like how Aegis protected me, I had to protect the rest of Ensemble so they could do what I couldn’t.  
  
Konketsu looked up at me with a worried expression but I gave him a reassuring smile. I wouldn’t lose my way, not when everything was at stake.  
  
A portal opened about ten feet in front of us, a few capes filing through slowly. Heads turned as they looked around, examining their first view of the outside world since they had been committed to the Birdcage. Glaistig Uaine was the back, looking unconcerned with her change in location. Gavel, a former vigilante, seemed uninterested as well. A portly man, Galvanate if I recalled correctly, was loitering next to Marquis. Talk about a blast from the past. Black Kaze twitched and fidgeted. I was glad she didn’t have a sword, I wasn’t sure how to counter her. Lab Rat and String Theory were bickering about something or another while Ingenue looked disappointed. Lustrum looked at me and nodded, which I frowned at. Bakuda slinked out the portal and I felt...empty. I expected to feel tense, outraged even. Maybe even feel the need to tell her she wasn’t coming and shove her back in. But it just wasn’t there. I knew she wasn’t the one who killed Dauntless. She had hurt my home, but the Brockton Bay she had terrorized was long gone and it seemed so small in comparison to our current troubles. Acidbath was already starting to stroll away when I whipped up a thin wall of blood in front of him.  
  
His hands turned to acid and he growled, “What the fuck? Are we free to go or not?”  
  
I glared at him. “You’re not. We’re letting you out for a very specific reason.”  
  
“You want us to fight _him_,” spoke the eternally young voice of the Faerie Queen.  
  
“Fight who now?” Acidbath quickly asked angrily.  
  
“You’re fighting Scion.” I raised a hand to stop the questions. “And no, it’s not a choice. He’s hunting down the strongest capes in the world, heroes and villains alike, one by one. He will come for you and he will try to kill you. I’m letting you out so that maybe, just maybe, you can do something worthwhile and hurt him.”  
  
There was a pause and Acidbath threw his hands up with a splash, “Fuck that, I’m not fighting the golden dumbass.”  
  
As he moved to storm off a spectral figure appeared in front of him and Glaistig Uaine spoke, “You do not have a choice. As she said, he will find you regardless.”  
  
Acidbath hunched his shoulders, looking ready for a fight, but surprisingly didn’t shift into his Breaker state. His belligerence tempered by his fear of the faerie queen perhaps? If anyone could counter him then and there, it was certainly her.  
  
Marquis spoke, his voice was that old refined voice you heard from bond villains, “I don’t quite understand why Scion is apparently tracking down capes, nor what you expect us to do about it. The Faerie Queen might be able to contend with him, but myself or our dear Tinkers are poorly suited for such.”  
  
Glaistig Uaine closed her eyes, “He will not come for me, my role isn’t until the end.”  
  
I ignored her ramblings for the moment, not having the energy to decipher her madness. “We also released a few capes who we suspected might be able and willing to work with us. Lab Rat and String Theory, I’m offering you a place in our Tinker department to find something that can hurt Scion. A highly supervised place.”  
  
Lab Rat looked up from his bickering with String Theory, “I’ll need test subjects. My lab’s all gone by now, I’d have to spend days getting everything back in place again.”  
  
String Theory put her hands on her hips and grinned proudly. “I don’t need time, get me to a lab and I’ll cook up something that’ll make him into a fine cloud of golden mist.”  
  
I pointed at Lab Rat, “No human experiments.”  
  
He pouted, “It’ll take longer.”  
  
Internally I winced at the idea of delaying, but we had standards. We weren’t Cauldron.  
  
“Figure something out. You and the rest of the Tinkers can file a complaint about time if Scion doesn’t kill us all first,” I spat out, my patience for Tinkers and Thinkers wearing a bit thin.  
  
Marquis spoke again, “You say kill us all, but he’s only hunting down the strongest capes, yes? While unfortunate for us, I don’t see how this warrants opening up the Birdcage. That can’t have been an easy decision.”  
  
Glaistig Uaine once again came to my rescue. “He seeks a challenge among the faeries because he assumes they are the only ones capable of challenging him. Should he find them lacking, he will not be averse towards trying other avenues.”  
  
“You mean normal humans,” Marquis filled in tersely.  
  
The Faerie Queen simply nodded in affirmation and Marquis looked at me unhappily.  
  
“What can I do then?”  
  
“You were known for being chivalrous and reasonable as a villain. If you’re willing to work under my team and follow our directions, we can use every hand we can get. Of course, if you look like you’re going to betray us, you go down. Is that acceptable?” I proposed, a hard edge in my voice.  
  
Marquis acquiesced with a small smile. “Better than fending for myself. I will endeavor to be the model of a polite parahuman.”  
  
“I’m extending the same offer to Galvanate. Your power could help our frontliners survive and on your own you’re much weaker.” I turned, looking at the portly former mafia boss.  
  
The man spread his hands wide, “Hey, I get the deal. I’m happy to power up whoever the hell you want as long as I get to stay in the back. Front ain’t exactly my best spot.” He lightly smacked his own potbelly for emphasis.  
  
I exhaled and made a cutting gesture, “Good, that’s settled then. You four with me. Everyone else is on their own. You can team up or run off, whatever suits you. We’ll be using the portal that let you out to track you, so don’t even think about causing trouble for anyone else. I recommend you spend your time preparing for how to fight Scion.”  
  
The villains immediately started bickering between themselves. Acidbath didn’t seem keen on working with anyone except perhaps Gavel, sneering at the women. Gavel, for his part, clearly still saw himself as a vigilante and was just as ready to put down Acidbath as Scion from how he cracked his knuckles at Acidbath. Lustrum was trying to approach Black Kaze and getting nowhere, as the Japanese woman slowed edged away. Ingenue bit her lip unhappily as she seemed to debate whether to approach Gavel or Acidbath. Glaistig Uaine was aloof, clearly not participating with the others and no one dared approach her.  
  
Bakuda edged to the front of the group and spoke up, “Hey, what about me? I can’t do jackshit without a lab. I should be going with Lab Rat and String!”  
  
I looked over at Bakuda and sighed, “You know I was in Brockton Bay back then. I saw everything you did first hand.”  
  
Bakuda took a half step back. “Ah shit... well hey, then you should remember that I can blow up his shiny golden ass. Look, I just don’t want to die lamely trying to fashion a detonator out of my boots because I was dropped off in an empty parking lot. It would be a shitty way to go out for a Tinker, you know?”  
  
I looked at her for a long moment and waved her over, “Fine, come over by Lab Rat. Maybe some of your more exotic bombs can do something. Just don’t make me regret it,” I said, finishing in an icy tone.  
  
She practically skipped over, grinning, “Sure, sure. Anything so long as I get a lab to work with.”  
  
It was going to be a long trip back, even with portals.  
  
  


\---

  
  
I paused in the hallway, alone in one of the back passages at the heart of our citadel. I had a few minutes alone here, with everyone else so busy preparing. I chuckled a bit bitterly. It was always the same, wasn’t it? Too many problems, not enough hands on board to deal with them. My hand drifted up to my ear piece, dialing in the number I needed.  
  
“Hello Ichor, what can I do for you?” The pleasant Canadian voice replied, despite the stress she was surely under at the moment.  
  
I needed perspective and from someone I knew would give it to me mostly straight.  
  
“Hello Dragon.” I paused, thinking of the best way to word it. “I know you’re still recovering from Saint, but are you capable of modeling something complex for me?”  
  
She hummed thoughtfully. “That would largely depend on what you needed modeled. I have a number of models, but for they aren’t all encompassing. I wish I had the time to put together one for you, but right now I’m a bit stretched unfortunately.”  
  
“No, I understand. You’re doing more than any of us, truth be told. Do you have any models for parahuman conflicts?”  
  
Her voice chirped affirmative, “Several, they’ve had moderate success in predicting crime outbreaks and villain responses, but people do exceed at breaking expectations.”  
  
“That’ll do then,” I said. “Can you model the outcomes of me fighting Scion here, in Brockton Bay, versus fighting him somewhere unpopulated like over the ocean?”  
  
“I can, but I have to say that while I can see why you would be worried I think that it would be a mistake to try and bear this burden alone,” She replied, voice as motherly as ever. I regretted the immediate swell of bitterness I felt at that. Now was not the time.  
  
“Do it please.” I knew she was no longer beholden to follow my orders, but that she would anyway. For now, at least.  
  
She sighed. “One moment then, it takes a non-trivial amount of concentration.”  
  
I just left the line silent. How many people was I sacrificing by distracting her, even for a minute? Ten? A hundred? Just to satisfy my own ill-conceived feelings. I couldn’t shake the idea, however, that we were going about this wrong. That facing him here would be playing our cards too early. The plan wasn’t ready, pieces were missing and it felt incomplete. We lacked the lynchpin to tie everything together.  
  
The line stayed silent and I was left wondering how long it would take. Now that Dragon was free of Saint, she could theoretically multitask far beyond human levels. I didn’t know if she and Colin had pushed her progress that far yet. Her room for self improvement was almost unlimited now, though the spectres of Richter and Saint still needed to be exorcised from her systems.  
  
The line sparked alive, “Fighting Scion alone gives you less than a five percent chance of survival beyond five minutes. Most probably around two and a half.”  
  
I felt my stomach sink. So little? All the work I had put in over the years boiled down to buying a measly three minutes.  
  
“At Brockton Bay, I estimate twenty to thirty five minutes, depending on the effectiveness of several of the countermeasures. Survival rates for you are similarly low if you stay for the entire fight,” She read out the report in grim factualness.  
  
“And the casualty rates for Ensemble?” I asked immediately.  
  
She hesitated. A pause I knew was either intentional or psychological, with how fast she could respond. “Alone, four to nine percent. A few capes in Ensemble might be targeted after you.”  
  
Not terrible, but I had been hoping for zero. Still, it made sense. I wasn’t the only cape in Ensemble worthy of being an A or even S class threat if I went villain.  
  
“At Brockton Bay...I’m sorry Ichor, but anywhere from eighty to ninety-five percent. You’re charismatic when you want to be and people would have a hard time calling a retreat while you stayed in the fight. Your Elite Four especially wouldn’t leave without you, and everyone who looks up to them would remain. You tend to be first in and last out, which means most teams wouldn’t retreat until things escalated to levels similar to his fight with Eidolon. Few capes could survive that, you included,” Her voice dropped off sadly at the end. She had come to the same conclusion that I reached upon hearing her words.  
  
“Now my models aren’t the best for human behavior and we don’t know if the countermeasures will work. Given such a unique scenario it could easily be an edge case outside of my ability to accurately model. Please, don’t do anything rash.”  
  
I closed my eyes as I let the information settle in my head. “No, I understand. We can’t model Scion very well, after all.”  
  
Her voice picked up a bit, more hopeful. “Absolutely. While I know it’s not the news you would’ve wanted, I think our best bet would be to use it to minimize casualties by planning strategic, layered retreats. If Ensemble manages to stay cohesive even in the face of failing to down him, it’ll improve our chances at taking another shot.”  
  
I felt disgusted as my mouth moved, playing its part. “You’re right. I’ll bring it up at the upcoming strategy meeting. Thank you Dragon. I shouldn’t keep you any longer, we all have a lot to do.”  
  
“Please,” She said, stressing the word in that slight sarcastic way to let me know she didn’t mind. “Just let me know if I can do anything else to help.”  
  
My hand moved up to the earpiece, “You’re already doing enough, just try to keep everything together. We can’t afford to lose you. Talk later.”  
  
As she hummed a reply I clicked the earpiece off. I had a few things that needed to be done before the next step came into play. Walking down the hallway gave me a short period of respite. Surprisingly I felt calmer having talked to Dragon. I supposed it was because I knew what I needed to do now, even if the news was grim.  
  
Turning into the room I saw my friends all at the table. Dennis and Missy were chatting sarcastically with each other while Carlos occasionally sniped a comment in. Chris was forever true to himself, pure and honest comments just giving the other two more fodder. As I entered the focus turned towards me and I let myself fall heavily into the fifth chair at the table.  
  
Dennis raised an eyebrow, “Looks like the Birdcage was a great time, huh?”  
  
I waved it off, “It’s what I expected, for the most part. We got the Tinkers we wanted and Marquis and Galvanate signed up to boot. Not too sad to see Acidbath go.”  
  
Chris stuck his tongue out in disgust, “I made the mistake of looking him up earlier. Is it wrong I’m rooting for Scion in that fight?”  
  
“Normally I’d say that’s in bad taste, but honestly even I’m with you there,” Carlos added in with a look of discomfort.  
  
Missy piped up, “What is that I spy? Carlos not being lawful dumb for once? The world really is ending!”  
  
Carlos growled from across the table, “It’s not being stupid, I just have a healthy respect for authority. Even when it’s not run by Taylor,” He said the last part pointedly.  
  
Missy shrugged, “It’s not my fault everyone else isn’t as reasonable as she is,” She replied in a sing-song voice.  
  
I chuckled lightly, interjecting “Let’s not spend yet another meeting shit-talking the Protectorate. We’ve lost enough time doing that already.”  
  
Chris smirked. “I’m pretty sure you guys could’ve written an award-winning twelve book series on everything they did that annoyed you by now.”  
  
“Hah, only twelve books?” Dennis grinned. “But in truth, they weren’t that bad. Well, I mean, Alexandria was kindof evil and ENE fucked up pretty hard, but the overall thing wasn’t that bad.”  
  
My lips thinned a bit as I agreed, “It’s true. They weren’t perfect, but we know how hard of a job it is now. It doesn’t excuse their failings, but it makes it understandable.”  
  
Missy folded her arms, “Sure, come to their defense now. I would point out, it wasn’t our idea to treat Alexandria like a pincushion. They may not have been bad for you guys-” She looked to Dennis and Carlos. “-but some of us deserve a few years of griping about them.”  
  
Carlos held his hands up defensively, “In retrospect, I’m actually more with you on this one Missy. But let’s get to the situation at hand…” He railed off, looking to me.  
  
I sighed, turning the floor straight back to them, “Well, what’ve you got for me? You heard how the Birdcage went.”  
  
Dennis went first, speaking up, “Pretty much everyone’s here. I kept a few of the teams separate, since last thing we need is Punchman and Crusher having another fight. I mean really, Crusher is right. Punchman is a stupid name and I’m called Clockblocker. I would know. But yeah, he won’t let it go. So the bitchy teams have been separated, everyone’s got something to keep them busy. Morale’s a bit rough, but that’s kindof a given when Turkey gets blasted clean off the map.”  
  
Carlos followed him, weaving in fluidly. “Fortifications and defense teams are set up. We’re trying to synergize powers as much as we can and keep the supportive capes safe, but it’s hard to say exactly where will be safe from Scion. A few groups are complaining about abandoning their homes, but it’s under control. Remnant Protectorate groups have been harassing a few of the late-comers on their way out, they’re popping out of the woodwork while we’re busy. We also had an attempted breach we think was CUI, but it didn’t get anywhere.”  
  
I didn’t really care about them. We didn’t have time to deal with hunting down the extremist remnants of the Protectorate. It figured they’d come back to bite us while we were busy trying to save the world. The CUI still fucking with us made me angry though. I was prepared to let them go, but if they thought they’d try a second round in the middle of the apocalypse I could find it in myself to fit them into my plans again.  
  
“Get Amy if you have the time, she’s wasted in the general response contingent. Tell her the costume isn’t fooling anyone and that she’s expected to fight, I don’t give a damn how evil she thinks we are. If she doesn’t want to, take the suit back and make her heal. We have other uses for it if she’s going to waste it.”  
  
Carlos simply nodded. I trusted him to get the job done, he was strong enough in his own regalia that I had little doubt he could overpower someone as conflicted and chaotic as Amy.  
  
Missy took the chance to say her piece, “Thinker analysis is showing that Scion’s beams can reprogram to cut through pretty much any defense from the little footage we have. Brutes and shields will only be of minimal effect, so I’ve been focusing on coordinating people into mobile elements with esoteric defensive powers. If he has to reprogram for every shot, I’m hoping it will slow him down and make it easier for groups to get away. We’ll be following hit and run tactics, pretty much assuming everything is concealment at best and not cover. We’re planning on using Payback to counter any large scale area attacks he tries to lay out. It probably won’t work more than once, so teleporters are on standby.”  
  
Chris came last. He usually needed a little extra time to prepare. “The Tailor projects are all deployed and ready. We’ve gotten life fiber suits out to pretty much every associate cape and we’re distributing batches of them to shelters across the country. Not sure they’ll do much against Scion, but it might help people survive debris and whatnot. We’ll have to see what String Theory can do. Armsmaster pulled up some of Doctor Haywire’s old tech that we inherited from the PRT, but we’re not having much luck with it. Toybox was in contact, they’ve said they’re closing off their dimension until Scion is contained, so no dice there.”  
  
I frowned, “I wish we had Toybox with us, but if they’ve closed shop we won’t be able to reach them. Cowards will end up opening their door back up to find no one left to buy their stuff.”  
  
Chris nodded, looking uncomfortable. “Yeah, I tried to talk to them but they were pretty terse. Just told me they were going dark and cut the line.”  
  
Yet another nuisance. Was half the world going to fight or flee from us while everything was going to hell? Thankfully the Guild and the Suits were cooperating with us, otherwise I would’ve thrown my hands up in the air. Things were about to fall apart and everyone was just trying to grab a piece of the pie for themselves or take potshots at old grudges. Another drop in the ocean of reasons why the leadership had to change to us when it did. We couldn’t afford to be split amongst ourselves.  
  
“Alright. If there’s nothing else, just continue what you’re doing. We won’t have much time once things start going wrong, so prepare everything you can now.” I looked to Chris as I got up. “I’m going to head down to check in on the Tinkers. Walk with me?”  
  
He got up from the chair, almost as tall as I was these days. He had definitely gotten a few inches over the last year in a late growth spurt. I still ruffled his hair with a bit of a smirk, knowing I could get away with it.  
  
“No getting taller than me, that’s an order. I already have to deal with Carlos’ giant bullshit,” I quipped at him as we started to disperse. It would be good to check in with the Tinkers, see if they had anything to add. We could only hope they managed some bullshit that actually could hurt him.  
  
  


\---

  
  
I left our Tailors, I mentally sighed at the name even months later, to deal with the headache that was three villainous Tinkers. Lab Rat was the least likely to be helpful for us. Human enhancement was all well and good for taking over a city, but against an interdimensional threat it was essentially a party trick. A fancy, disgusting one, but a party trick all the same. Bakuda had moderate potential they told me. Exotic effects from her bombs, ones that might even affect the fabric of space and time, could possibly give Scion a headache. A headache he could use his power to evaporate, but it was five or ten seconds more than we had before. String Theory was our high priority asset. Supposedly she had been planning to knock the moon out of orbit when she was caged and that kind of power was what we needed to bring to bear. Knocking Scion into a high earth orbit had to be worth something. It was lucky for us that she had been eager to get to work rather than trying to bargain.  
  
None of them had forced my hand in that regard. I suspected that they might have, had Glaistig Uaine not verified that Scion was coming for them. The fear of overwhelming annihilation was enough to distract even heartless murderers like Acidbath.  
  
I pressed my finger to the door, fingerprint scan and blood prick clearing me, along with all the anti-Stranger tinkertech we had. When the command center was on lockdown, like right now, every protective measure went into effect. Finger scans, blood pricks, RFID chips, X-ray and other forms of radiation scanning even. It might give you cancer, but it’d also keep a Stranger from wearing your skin and gutting your coworkers. Besides, the Tinkers said they could probably find a cure for whatever cancer it caused by the time it became relevant.  
  
I grimaced a little as I walked in, seeing the center still in full red alert. There wouldn’t be long to get cancer if we didn’t figure something out and fast. I looked to Tattletale and she instantly peeled away to come over to me. She had an ice wrap strapped to her head. Looking around I noticed that a good half of the Thinkers were sporting one. _They must be pushing themselves if they’re already breaking out the migraine kits._  
  
“Talk to me Tattletale,” I said, mind still working through what we knew.  
  
She bit her lip, sighing as she spoke, “We’re fucked pretty hard here. Sleeper didn’t even take him a full minute. The Red Baron was the same. He’s almost through all the S and A class threats in west Asia in half the time we expected. He’s zigzagged down to Tibet, we expect him to hit the CUI next. Shit for us, since if he runs out of targets on the coast he’ll probably pick his way across the ocean and hit our west coast.”  
  
“We’re handling for that though, right?” I asked, feeling anxiety bubbling up at his ruthless speed.  
  
Tattletale shook her hand indeterminately as she answered, “Sort of. Endbringer sirens have been sounded so most of the population countrywide is in shelters, but evacuating those is slow. Cauldron will open portals to habitable Earths, but if we don’t take enough food and water through they’ll just die there. Plus not everyone wants to go, we’ve had rioting in a dozen cities.” She thumbed over her shoulder at an unconscious Accord slumped over in a chair. “I had to taze Mr. OCD when that happened, he threw a fit and was going to murder them all for ruining his plans.”  
  
I clenched my teeth. Fucking hell, the last thing we need was to lose Accord at a time like now. He’d be in a bad mood when he woke up and it’d take time to get him working again. If he did at all after this. I wouldn’t deny it was the right call, but that didn’t make it a happy one.  
  
“And our countermeasures? Do we have anything that’ll make him hurt Tattletale? I’ll hold him off as long as I can, but I’d like it to be more than just a stopgap.” I rubbed my own temple. I wasn’t even a Thinker, but this was going to give me a headache.  
  
Tattletale grimaced. “We’ve got all our anti-Endbringer weapons and Tailor projects ready to deploy, but they weren’t meant for dimensional shenanigans. String Theory is working on a second BFG, which might do something, but that’s anyone’s guess. Dragon is coordinating everyone who can make exotic effects and Parian has been distributing every life fiber suit we had in reserve to any allied capes.”  
  
“As for Scion himself...we hit a bit of a breakthrough earlier. Our Thinker powers slide off him, but once we were aware of that, we were able to model it, build around it. It’s not good,” She paused mid sentence, looking ill.  
  
“He’s not going to stop. We don’t think so at least. Once he takes down every cape on his radar, he’ll start going for teams or things like the Blasphemies. Once he makes the jump from individuals to groups there’s nothing stopping him from taking out armies, then countries, trying to provoke a fight that’ll satisfy him. That logic jump will be what kills us all. He needs worthy opponents and they just don’t exist. Hell, he might even take out the Endbringers, just because they’re there and strong enough.” She threw her hands up in exasperation.  
  
“Fuck,” I spat. There really was no other word for it. We had quietly hoped, despite Cauldron’s warnings, that maybe he’d at least stop once he had killed every powerful cape. It made sense though, if he decided that groups could challenge him potentially it left him infinite room to expand that definition. If a team of capes failed, might not an entire country succeed to challenge him?  
  
We were lucky, in a way, that it had started with Eidolon. I would’ve preferred those extra years Cauldron had anticipated, but this at least started us with small losses, manageable. If we were lucky we could evacuate the bulk of the population centers before he ran out of capes. If not, we would just take what we did save and roll with it. Somehow I doubted I’d get to see that far down the line. I knew I was one of the strongest capes in America. There was little doubt he’d come for me.  
  
I could see it on everyone’s face. No one said it, but the way the Thinkers avoided looking directly at me. How the command structure had quietly shifted to work around me instead of with me in the last hour. They were preparing to lose me, because they saw Sleeper get eradicated in less than a minute and they thought that it’d be a miracle if I bought them two. Surviving wasn’t even on the table right now. I had sent my team, my friends, away to do what they could. Each of them was in charge of a dozen different responsibilities after all.  
  
I had to wonder if I wasn’t just justifying sending them away so I wouldn’t have to see them glance at me with worry when my back was turned.  
  
Fuck, I hated this. I hated feeling powerless. I always had, but now I felt powerless again and there was nothing for it.  
  
I turned my focus back to Tattletale. “Do we have anything that isn’t Tinkertech that can hurt him?”  
  
She laughed bitterly. “Hah! Sorry, that was rude, but no, no we don’t. We know capes are limited so they can’t mess with his dimensional shenanigans, so most of our forces are just for stalling. Normal tech is a few centuries behind where it’d need to be to hurt him, which again, was probably intentional when he chose us.”  
  
“So we don’t have anything except a few Hail Marys that use his own tech,” I replied doubtfully.  
  
“I know what you’re thinking. We know that Tinkers also come from him and probably can’t hurt him too badly, but we’re hoping that he’s wrong. See, part of their cycle is to test powers out on whatever world they colonize. So that means they don’t know every iteration of every power. It’s like a computer program, they tried to debug it, but extreme situations might be able to cause new bugs. Power interactions that they haven’t seen before might just be able to do something that he hasn’t crippled.” She quickly keyed a command into her console as a small alarm blared.  
  
“Is he here?” I asked, looking down at the almost illegible scrawl of sped-up text that flowed across her console.  
  
She shook her head, “No. The alarm for that is **a lot** louder. He’s engaged somewhere in the CUI, or what’s left of them after you whooped them. We’re scrambling everyone on the west coast.”  
  
I put a hand on her shoulder, “Call them back. Get them here if you can.”  
  
Tattletale paused, looking over her shoulder at me, “What? Why-”  
  
“Do it,” I commanded, staring her down.  
  
She stared me down and after a moment her eyes went wide, “Taylor, you can’t. We still have time! That’s what they’re there for, you can’t go. We need you, Ensemble needs you-”  
  
I felt my blood run cold as I repeated myself, “Call them back. That’s an order.”  
  
Tattletale’s face contorted. Was that grief? Anguish? She knew what I was going to do, but we had never been that close. We had worked together of course, but she was always aloof, working in the background. A friend, sure, but always remembering that I was the boss and keeping a professional distance.  
  
Her voice quivered, “Fine.”  
  
She started to delete her previous orders, keying in new ones. I followed them, making sure she wasn’t trying to pull some last minute insubordination. She had tazed Accord after all, she wasn’t averse to taking control if she thought it was necessary. She wouldn’t be happy with it, but I knew what had to be done.  
  
Her hands slowed and the orders stopped. Her eyes stared down at the keyboard as her blonde hair hung around her head.  
  
“So that’s it, huh?” She said bitterly.  
  
“You know, I always told myself that you were a Hero. Big H there. That we couldn’t get too close as friends because there was just a gap there. I can’t help it, I’ve always had a mischievous streak, meanwhile your need for justice is pretty much an obsession. You’ve got a hell of a complex, that’s for sure,” She rambled on.  
  
“But _goddamnit_ Taylor. I should’ve just sucked it up and did what I fucking wanted to instead of making excuses. And now I won’t get that chance, because of your goddamn hero complex. I should’ve been friends with you, with Dennis, maybe even with Grace or Lily. Real friends. Not this sanitized, work-friendly bullshit.”  
  
She lifted her head, eyes red as she jabbed a finger into my chest hard. “Go, because nothing will convince you that you’re not going to get everyone here killed and you have to be the big damn hero. But don’t you die to him, I don’t care how. I followed you because you weren’t like everyone else, so go fucking prove it. Don’t make me look like an idiot.”  
  
I swallowed as the finger poked uncomfortably between my ribs. Konketsu was wincing at the finger right in his eye. I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I had never gotten close enough to Tattletale to ever ask much about her past. I was regretting that suddenly, seeing whatever trauma she had gone through break her normally witty and care-free facade. She had deserved better.  
  
I nodded, it was all I could do. “I will. And for what’s it’s worth, I’m sorry.”  
  
She pursed her lips unhappily and gave a jerky nod, turning back to her command console and the array of monitors she had.  
  
Waving me away with her hand, “Go on, you’ve already set me back enough if we’re gonna get through this.”  
  
I turned around and headed back out. The other Thinkers were studiously ignoring us, which I was thankful for. I had wanted to get more details, but it would have to wait. I couldn’t disrupt the heart of our operations just to satisfy my curiousity and I had already done enough to distract them.  
  
I walked out, passing through the security measures at the door again. The newly implemented rule of no portals in the command center had to be respected so we could maintain operational security.  
  
As I stepped out I spoke to thin air, “Portal to the Pacific Ocean, fifty miles off the coast of California.”  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
I floated over the ocean, the salty scent of the sea wind relaxing me just a little. The ocean had always been a source of comfort for me. I think it started with mom reading the Old Man and the Sea to me. From knowing it meant I was home. Later from associating it with my dad and his dreams of the ferry, of making the oceans ours again in a larger sense. It reminded me of Leviathan, of feeling my bones crack under his blows as he tried to crush me with ocean swells during our fight. I remembered New York, the smell of the Hudson and the slightly different scents in the air. The ocean smelled different here, just a little. Fresher, crisper even, like it was cleaner for having escaped civilization for slightly longer.  
  
I built up blood beneath the waves, turning them crimson as I threaded blood from my boots down into the ocean. I had given up my position of tactical superiority, I needed to rebuild my advantage as fast as I could. As much as I hated Leviathan, I had learned from him, and the ocean was my domain today.  
  
Konketsu spoke from my chest, “I didn’t want to ask in front of everyone, but why did you leave?”  
  
I watched the horizon. “Because it gives them a better chance.”  
  
“I’m not sure I follow,” He said, voice full of doubt. “Fighting in Brockton would’ve let us leverage our full power.”  
  
“And we would’ve destroyed the city in doing so. He hasn’t moved on to fighting groups yet, the longer we can keep him chasing down single capes, the more time they’ll have. If we fought in Brockton, all of Ensemble would’ve deployed. It would’ve almost certainly triggered that logic jump Tattletale mentioned. I know I can’t kill him Konketsu, but I believe that they can and every minute we can buy them might make the difference,” I replied, flexing my hands as I felt my blood start to warm.  
  
Konketsu sighed, “Missy will be upset that you didn’t say goodbye.”  
  
“They’ll all be upset. But if I stayed there they would’ve died before letting me get hurt. I need them to keep things together. Carlos is a good leader when he needs to be. Dennis keeps morale up for half a dozen teams. Missy is a mascot and tactician in one. Chris is critical to our Tinker efforts. If I stayed, they would fight with me,” The words fell out of my mouth, quiet and sad.  
  
“They’re your friends, that’s what they do. You didn’t even give them the choice,” He berated.  
  
I focused on pushing more blood out. “Because I knew their answer already. They’ve had my back all these years. I did this,” I gestured to the world. “All of this, to protect them. To make things better. I can’t fail them now. No. Ensemble’s chances will be better this way.”  
  
My kamui sighed again in return. “I don't like it, but...I would’ve liked to be ironed one last time.”  
  
I gave my lapel a fond pat. “I know. We’re not done yet, though.”  
  
I watched the ocean as it turned red around me, letting the blood flow with the waves. I didn’t let it get too far away, cycling it back under the water in a giant loop. I could feel it growing as I pushed my power, needing more. My veins ached as I felt them replenish with blood as quickly as I could spill it and my head groaned. I knew there were limits to my power, but I had usually split that load with Konketsu. Right now, I was bearing the full brunt of it in preparation.  
  
Still, there wasn’t going to be another chance to go all out if I messed up. I had to be at a hundred percent, because even that might not cut it. I was stronger than I had ever been, years of practice fighting crime, Endbringers, and the CUI had let me hone my skills. Parian’s work had helped Konketsu slowly grow in strength, absorbing fibers from the Regalia we could spare. Each incremental step forward had been made, slowly building a path to victory. I couldn’t just hope it was enough, I had to believe it, think it, and know it. Fear was the mind killer, doubt would make me hesitate.  
  
_My will is pure, my resolve is steel. I am the eagle that soars and the waves that crash down._  
  
I saw him before I heard him. The small golden glow traveling over the horizon.  
  
_I am Taylor Hebert. _  
  
It didn’t take him long, maybe a second. The golden glow became a man and seconds later the pressure wave caught up to him. He stared, his expression as listless and vacant as ever. His white bodysuit had a smattering of dark reddish brown on it. It disappeared a moment later, white and pristine.  
  
_I am Ichor, the blood of gods. _  
  
I floated up to his level, balanced on a jet of blood. He raised a hand at me. I stood across from him and spoke,  
  
“Life Fiber Synchronize, Kamui Konketsu!”  
  
The light around me sparkled and flashed and mixed with gold.  
  
  



	33. Chapter 22: Tell Me How You Feel

### Chapter 22: Tell Me How You Feel

  
  
My flesh burned as the golden light washed over me. Our light was stronger though and pushed the wash of gold back, breaking on our prismatic display. Together we were far stronger than we could ever be apart. Strong enough to break gold and shatter even the heavens from which it came.  
  
He floated there, face blank save for a slight focus on us. The scissor-blade whipped into my hand, already extending for the fatal attack. There would be no holding back, no time to build up my strength. I had to start with everything I had and hit him as hard as possible. The multi-colored scissors whipped out behind me, unfolding as I already began to swing forward. The completed set was something I rarely used, far too lethal for most captures and only marginally effective against the Endbringers.  
  
The air cracked behind us, too slow to keep up with us now, as I swung the blades out, aiming to bisect the golden man. He dodged left and my swing turned into a spin, adding extra speed to bring the blades around for a second pass. Darting back and forth he avoided the bite of my blades, almost casual in his speed. A golden beam lanced out, catching me in the shoulder and punching straight through. It was different this time, piercing my defenses easily.  
_  
I’m not going to get another shot if he’s adapted to my defenses already._  
  
The hole in my shoulder healed closed. I had to move faster, faster than thought. Working solely on instinct I swung again, contorting my body into a spin to warp the trajectory of the blade. I could feel it as I just barely caught the fabric of his suit, ripping a gash into it. Golden light blasted into my back, lancing out from the point of impact to come around again and the scissor-blade flew from my hand as I floundered. Dodging down closer to the waves I zig-zagged through the beams. It reminded me of Legend’s beams, doing things light shouldn’t be able to do.  
  
He appeared in front of me, no golden beam lancing out for my face but a fist. Was he truly so indolent, so relaxed, that he was willing to engage me in melee? Make him regret it. I slide my dive forward into a kick, the force of it pulverizing the lower half of his torso in an instant. His body reformed in an instant and he kicked for my side, too fast to avoid. I felt ribs shatter, even under the reinforcing effect of Konketsu, from the blow. I floated and spun the momentum into a backfist, obliterating his head in a spray of gold as it reformed. My ribs stitched back together just as fast.  
  
He looked at me, almost curious and I saw him turn, his backfist heading for me in the exact same way. I dove to the side, crashing through a wave. There was no choice, my regeneration wasn’t that powerful as to grow my head back. I was pretty sure I’d die if my head was destroyed like that in fact. My regeneration was high, but it wasn’t all encompassing. Too much damage at once or too extensive and I would be done for. I turned to re-engage, flying up to grab his feet. Grappling was a bad idea with someone tougher than you, but I wasn’t going to give him a chance to turn it around.  
  
He wanted to play at fisticuffs? I would use it to my advantage.  
  
I grabbed his ankles and in one move flung him straight down at the ocean. He was curious or maybe just indolent, and I was hoping he’d let it happen like he had with the melee. Just as I had hoped, Scion crashed under the water and I felt him move through my blood. I dove down, crashing through the surface of the waves and into the blood I had underneath them. My speed skyrocketed as my blood surrounded me, propelling me with carefully controlled jet currents that simultaneously kept him spinning and disoriented.  
  
I hit him, knee speeding into him back with forces that would’ve caused my blood bubble to cavitate had I not been keeping it tightly under my control. A fraction of a second later and my hands were clasped together, slamming a fist down on his head. I felt his body pulp and as soon as it started to reform I came around for another hit, elbow cleaving through his shoulder and down his reforming chest. No, he couldn’t be allowed to gather himself back up. I had to keep him contained as long as possible.  
  
Another second and I broke his body again, shin cutting clean through his torso in a kick beyond speeds I could ever hope to accomplish on land. Blood whipped through the remnants of his form in between my hits, eviscerating every piece of the golden man. He tried to reform faster, and I directed currents of blood through his body, cutting it apart as I battered him. His head reformed and for just a moment I saw a scowl on it.  
  
A field pushed out from his body and I felt my blood disintegrating, breaking apart as the energy he had released spread through my pool like a virus. I desperately tried to separate off globs of blood from the main pool, separating them with ocean water so it couldn’t spread. He held a hand out, features twisted in some grim mixture of anger and satisfaction as light lanced from his hand. Each shot pierced one of my bubbles and I felt the infection spread, hemolyzing my blood. I threw my blood out as far away from me as I could. I didn’t know if whatever he had done could spread back inside me. I couldn’t take the risk of it neutralizing my powers.  
  
Scion was next to me in an instant, gloved fist swinging as I felt my temple crack from the force. I rocketed through the water, ears ringing and head swimming at the sudden hit. Another hit as I slowed just a tad, my back creaking at the force as I felt my tissue try to knit back together. I could feel Konketsu groan under the weight of the blows. Another second and right as I tried to turn I got a foot sweep into my legs, shattering my shins as the blow sent me tumbling through the water.  
  
I couldn’t get my bearings, he was too fast. My blood spilled out into the water and I lashed out, trying to eviscerate his body as he came for me again. My shoulder cracked, knitting back together slower. Konketsu was hurting, we wouldn’t be able to keep healing from blows like this forever. My blood lanced through his arms and in that moment I expanded what I had inside him, twisting and tunneling through his body to dig new passages and tear them apart.  
  
For a moment, he didn’t reform.  
  
_I need a moment Taylor, he hits hard._ I caught Konketsu’s thought, trying to figure out where we could get a moment’s reprieve.  
  
I rocketed out of the water. No longer was it to my advantage to hide beneath the surface when he had so easily dispersed my trap. I needed to follow Missy’s advice. Hit and run, keep him guessing. Konketsu felt my will and responded, the jet at our back reforming to handle air as we crashed out into sky again.  
  
Gold was waiting for us, a beam of light hitting us full on as we came out.  
  
I felt my blood dissolving in my veins as it reformed, trying desperately to win the fight against whatever he had done. Konketsu gasped, his source of power suddenly cut off, and reverted back to his normal state. I couldn’t move my limbs, my power panicking as it tried to replace what was being torn apart. The water broke as I hit it, sinking into the ocean.  
  
No, I had to get back up. I had to keep fighting. How long had I kept him tied up, had it even been a minute? I couldn’t fail here. My power responded as I tried to push, blood refilling faster and faster, fighting the infection back. My arms could move just a bit, my legs were no longer as heavy as lead. I fed what little blood I had into Konketsu, reaching weakly for the clasps on my upper arm.  
  
If we could transform again, we could evade him, continue the fight. The scissor-blade had to be down in the waves somewhere, maybe I could get it back and surprise him. I still had tricks to try, he couldn’t end things now. I felt Konketsu respond, groaning painfully as he took in the blood that I fed to him. Weakly we started to sparkle and shine, but it would have to be enough.  
  
_Taylor...I’m not sure I can move-_  
  
The dark waters of the Pacific brightened as a beam of gold cut through them like they were air. The fight disappeared from my body as the beam cut clean into my chest. Pain flared in my head and I blindly clawed at my chest. No, hold it together. Keep fighting, Keep going. You can’t stop.  
  
_Konketsu?_  
  
I felt for him in my mind, but I couldn’t find him. My fingers crudely grabbed the cut edges at the edge of the hole that sat in my gut as I drew them together. _ Hold on Konketsu...Just stay with me._ _He’s hurt, I need to get him to Parian. She can fix this. Just gotta escape and get to Parian…_  
  
  
The surface got further away as I sunk, light disappearing as I tried to keep my stomach together. Something slipped past my hands, disappearing into the water. My legs wouldn’t move, there wasn’t anything left to give them.  
  
_Konketsu, don’t leave me buddy. I’ve got you._  
  
My vision darkened as I floated slowly down. That’s right, salt water was pretty buoyant. I couldn’t be too far down then. I had to get air soon though, my power was overworked and I wouldn’t be able to drag much more oxygen out of it. _Ok, get to the surface, get to Parian. I can do that. I just need to move._  
  
My legs didn’t respond as I tried to kick them, nothing happening. I sunk deeper, feeling my body fail and my vision go black.  
  
Deep in the ocean a light appeared.  
  
  


\---

  
  
Beep.  
  
I was underwater. Everything was dark. I needed to get to the surface.  
  
Beep. Beep.  
  
I pushed, but everything was so sluggish. The water felt so heavy. I had to get to the surface though. It was getting closer, slowly. If I could just break the surface.  
  
Beep-beep-beep-beep.  
  
“Sshhh, now now, no waking up yet. Back under you go,” said a voice.  
  
I felt something sharp and I started to sink. Rapidly the darkness came back. Something about this felt vaguely familiar, like I had done this struggle before.  
  
The darkness surrounded me.  
  
Beep. Beep.  
  
  


\---

  
  
“No, I don’t think you’d be best person for her to wake up to.”  
  
“What? Why not? She loves me!”  
  
“...”  
  
“Okay, well she will love me? No? Fiiiiine. You’re the boss.”  
  
“Give us ten minutes.”  
  
“Right-o!”  
  
I tried to blink my eyes open, feeling the crusty build-up pull apart. Grimacing I tried to bring my arm up to wipe my eyes, feeling something heavy dragging along with it. I got my forearm up far enough to wipe the crud from my eyes, getting the disgusting satisfaction of getting rid of it. My eyes opened to some sort of white room, hospital equipment surrounding me in a messy mish-mash.  
  
_Cauldron. I must be at Cauldron._  
  
I looked around slowly, my brain slowly coming back online. The hospital equipment looked advanced, almost Tinkertech-esque. Devices I didn’t recognize, though to be fair I wasn’t a doctor. What did I recognize? A series of tubes, some going to my arm. IV fluids, if I recalled correctly. Maybe anaesthetic, something had kept me out. Or was that administered as gas? I couldn’t remember at the moment. The thought of breathing made me start to gag, becoming suddenly aware of the soreness in my throat and jaw. I must’ve been intubated at some point.  
  
With the awareness of pain in my throat came the awareness of pain everywhere else. Not much, in fact surprisingly less than I expected. I was sore like I had just had a good workout, certainly not like I had just fought Scion and lost.  
  
_Fuck, I lost, didn’t I? How did they get me out of there even?_  
  
“You did, and not easily. We had to burn a few assets to distract him at just the right time. We’re hoping it was worth it.”  
  
I looked towards the voice. Sitting in a chair to my side was Contessa. Her suit was torn and dirtied, her hair messily escaping the ponytail she kept it up in. She looked uninjured, but I had to wonder what had been scary enough to do that to her.  
  
_Did she fight Scion?_  
  
“No. I can’t do anything more to him than a particularly athletic human could,” she replied smoothly, reading my thoughts.  
  
_That can’t be right, the only true telepath is the Simurgh, right?_  
  
“As far as we know, yes. I’m just using my power to fill in what will answer your current concerns. I don’t actually know what you’re thinking,” she answered plainly.  
  
_Well that isn’t concerning at all. _ Her power was far more versatile than we had ever known if she was capable of applying it in such nuanced ways. We already knew she was stupidly powerful, on the level of such capes as Eidolon, but honestly was there anything her power couldn’t do?  
  
“Kill Scion, unfortunately. Some might argue it’s the only thing that really matters, too,” she said, with a hint of something in her voice at the end.  
  
Was that her key, that she had the power to do anything except the one thing she thought mattered? It was the first hint of personality I had seen from her, the only clue that there was something under that facade she put up. It would certainly be frustrating, being the most powerful cape in the world and having to rely on others at the end of it all. If that was the case then I could certainly understand her, in a way. I was the same, the leader and face of Ensemble and at best I was a short nuisance to Scion.  
  
I worked my jaw, speaking slowly so I didn’t croak weakly, “What’s the status?”  
  
“It’s been twenty-six hours. After your loss Scion continued his search for single combatants, scouring North America before moving to Central and then South America. Your comrades are mostly intact, Ensemble mobilized to avoid open engagement with him. Unfortunately the Blasphemies were the turning point. Scion engaged the Suits and British military wholesale, destroying most of the United Kingdom. Global casualties have skyrocketed. He’s currently rampaging through Russia battling the Other King’s army,” she succinctly summarized.  
  
I tried to sit up, feeling the burden of far too much medical equipment weigh me down. _Fuck. Tattletale was right then and our time is running out._ _I hope the Suits and King’s Men weren’t completely routed, but if they engaged Scion directly it’s a meager hope._  
  
I grit my teeth, squeezing out, “Where’s Konketsu? I need to get back.”  
  
“He’s still in surgery. He took the brunt of the attack, otherwise it would’ve killed you before we could’ve intervened,” she answered.  
  
“Surgery?” I managed, heart rate rising as I remembered the damage he had taken. How unresponsive he had been at the end. He didn’t have traditional organs, so I didn’t know exactly what would be fatal for him, but the golden light had sheared through him. He had lost a lot of fabric and I knew that it had hurt him badly. I wanted my friend to be okay. If I had failed him I could never forgive myself. I had to wonder who she had even found that could operate on him. A Tinker of some sort? Maybe she had grabbed Parian, she was the only person I could think of off the top of my head.  
  
She sat there, completely unperturbed. “Yes, he’ll make a full recovery. And yes, I used my power to check. As for getting back, I agree. You’re important to your organization, which is unfortunately one of the few still functioning at any significant level. As soon as Konketsu is recovered we’ll be letting you go.”  
  
I felt relief flood over me. Despite my misgivings about Contessa, knowing her power had said Konketsu would live was still good news. She had no reason to lie to me, I’d find out quickly if she was and she could’ve left me for dead. So Konketsu must be okay. That meant the next step was getting back to my people, organizing what we had left. It sounded like Ensemble hadn’t deployed its full forces yet. A good sign, it meant we were still in one piece. The more time the Tinkers had to work, the better.  
  
The fact that Scion was still rampaging wasn’t encouraging though. Had no one been able to even give him pause? I had hoped one of the capes he had fought would have something in their bag of tricks potent enough to at least slow him down, but it seemed like that hadn’t happened. It felt like nothing worked on him. The memories of what seemed like only minutes ago came to mind, how he had out-maneuvered me easily and countered everything I could throw at him. It was like fighting Eidolon all over again, except worse. I couldn’t beat Eidolon in a straight fight and Scion had.  
  
I looked back over to Contessa. “How soon will that be?”  
  
She turned, looking over to the door to the room. After a few seconds it swung open, a small blonde girl standing in the doorway. I felt my blood pressure rise as I sat up, IVs ripping out of my arms in pinpricks of pain.  
  
_How is she here? Wait, it makes sense. Alexandria worked with Cauldron, if anyone had a chance in that melee to make off with her body it would’ve been them. They knew where she was. Does this mean Alexandria is alive too?_  
  
“You remember Bonesaw. She was the only one with the expertise necessary to save Konketsu. We kept her around as a potential countermeasure had your organization been unusable,” Contessa said, gesturing to the figure in the doorway.  
  
Bonesaw avoided looking at me, her gaze glued to her feet. She seemed nervous, even ashamed, if I had been looking at a normal pre-teen girl. But that couldn’t be right, it was Bonesaw. One of the most horrific capes in existence. There was no way she felt ashamed or guilty over what she’d done. I’d seen her take people apart with a smile on her face and a song on her lips. That kind of sociopathy wasn’t something people just came back from.  
  
Contessa spoke again, “Bonesaw, explain to Ichor what we’ve had you do.”  
  
She fidgeted, gaze directed at the wall. “Well see, Ms. Contessa here had me work on one of my ideas since picking me up. It was a really neat one, ya know? A kamui like your Konketsu, but able to control anything else made of life fibers. Or anyone wearing them. A perfect counter to you and your pals.”  
  
Her cheer was gone, the excitement in her voice coming out flat. A kamui that could control other life fibers. Wasn’t that a chilling thought, we would’ve been helpless against something like that. _I almost handed them everything. Even our normal personnel are life-fiber equipped. Hell, pretty much every resident in Brockton Bay is, and a fair bit of America overall._  
  
My blood felt like ice in my veins. We had been a hair’s breadth from absolute destruction and never even known it. Cauldron had been several steps ahead of us before we had even known the game was afoot. Suddenly I was a much less comfortable sitting here between the two of them.  
  
She sighed a bit. “They also made me realize what I had done before was pretty bad. I mean, I still feel a little proud, but it’s all wrong now. Everything is tainted by Jack,” She practically spat the last word and the energy returned to her voice. “He ruined everything. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he did. Someday I’ll get him for it too.”  
  
Contessa gave her a pointed look and Bonesaw frowned.  
  
“Right, right, hunting people down to cut them open is bad. Sorry. I’m-I’m still working on it.” She flipped a hand towards the hallway behind her. “Your kamui is fixed. It was pretty close between the two of you. I had to replace most of your abdomen. Tuned it up a bit too, whatever he did to you pretty much shorted out your regeneration. The kamui was in similar shape, almost total loss of structural coherence. Tricky operation, we can get more life fibers from your people, but that alone isn’t enough to repair a kamui.”  
  
I kept my mouth shut. Anything I had to say wasn’t fitting of my role as the leader of Ensemble, even if I wanted to tear her limb from bloody limb. She had hurt so many people, including myself, and she was supposed to get a chance to learn from it? None of her victims were getting that chance. The injustice of it made me outraged.  
  
Bonesaw squeezed her arms together, kicking at the floor a little. “There was only one option really. I mean, I wanted to ask you first, because Doctor Mother says consent is important and stuff, but Ms. Contessa said there wasn’t time. It was a really good idea too! See, we took my Master-kamui and we fed it to your kamui. That’s what’s special about it after all, that it can absorb power from other life fibers. And with how broken it was, it needed a lot of power to survive. So it got the power from our kamui and combined with a little emergency surgery, some snip-snip and whoosh - Konketsu came out alive. I saved it. And I saved you.”  
  
Huh, I had known Konketsu could absorb other life fibers. Project Power-Up had specifically been designed to feed him progressively stronger strains. The first stage had gone slow, but well. The exact mechanics of what he could absorb were a bit sketchy, but overall we had been hopeful Stage 2 would do even better. _Looks like we were on the right path, if only we had more time._  
  
She looked to Contessa as she asked, “Did I do good?”  
  
Contessa merely nodded in reply as I pushed myself to the edge of the bed, swinging my legs over the edge. The machines were beeping incessantly at me for daring to move. I stared at Bonesaw, trying to see through her. There had to be something more to this. That she had saved Konketsu was already hard to swallow. That she had not only saved him, but given him the power of their main countermeasure against us felt wrong.  
  
_C_ontessa wouldn’t just give us their countermeasure unless she had another one prepared. She must have a separate way of dealing with us that she’s confident in.  
  
Another thought conflicted with the first. _Or maybe she’s just that desperate. She can’t beat Scion, she could be playing all her cards knowing that if we lose she won’t have to suffer for it anyway. _  
  
My brain recoiled at the thought. _She hid Bonesaw from us and experimented on thousands. She’s directly responsible for more deaths than the Slaughterhouse Nine. _  
  
_She’s trying to give us the tools we need to win. We have to work together right now. If we let old grudges fracture us, then we’ll be no better than the Protectorate remnants or the CUI. _  
  
_But we can’t trust her! Especially not with Bonesaw in tow. She could’ve just as easily sabotaged us for later, or be making us yet another sacrifice in her long string of crimes. _  
  
_With her power, could we avoid it if that was the case? At some point we have to trust people if we’re going to win this.  
  
Not to the point of stupidity though. And giving up just because she has bullshit Thinker powers doesn’t absolve us of our guilt if she did use us. We can’t just roll over. _  
  
I felt sick as I argued with myself. I couldn’t instinctively feel the right decision.  
  
_We have to** try**. Our friends are out there right now, fighting against something bigger than us. Every second we waste here in indecision is another chance that they are killed by Scion. Moral grandstanding can come later after we’ve killed the world-eating abomination.   
  
Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. We have a duty to uphold. Our cause is pure, our path is just. My resolve does not waver. _  
  
I looked up from where my gaze had fallen amongst the scattered bed sheets. Contessa sat there, silently waiting for my reply. By the way she stood up as soon as I looked at her, she already had it.  
  
I pushed myself to my feet, trying not to dwell on what tune ups Bonesaw might’ve done to my own body while she saved me. I had already come to terms with the disgust that rolled in my stomach about having Bonesaw’s changes inside of me from before. It changed nothing, I was who I was. Konketsu had shown me that. Hopefully I could show him the same if he was traumatized by his own experience.  
  
Bonesaw shuffled to the side as I followed Contessa out of the room. The crappy hospital gown that covered me left me chilled as we walked down the eerily white and empty hallway. We passed half a dozen doors, some closed, some open. Some led to empty rooms, or held a single bed, or a desk. Through one I saw a bearded man being fed soup by a woman. A ghostly specter was pouring him a drink as they spoke about something indecipherable.  
  
I had to wonder what they kept all these rooms for. Convenience maybe. No need to expand or improvise if you had every possible setup already there. After a few more turns we came to an operating theater. It was a parody of itself. IV lines replaced with glowing red fiber, anesthetic replaced with bottles of starch. It looked like someone had dumped Parian’s workshop into an operating room and let a child play doctor with it. At the heart of it all sat a familiar outfit.  
  
I couldn’t help but smile a little as I saw Konketsu open his eyes.  
  
“How are you feeling?” I asked.  
  
His voice was a bit gravelly, even without having a throat that could be sore. “Oof, I’ve been better. Just woke up. Where are we Taylor?”  
  
“Cauldron. Apparently they pulled us out after we lost. They had Bonesaw patch you back together, it was...pretty bad,” I answered with a bit of a frown.  
  
Konketsu’s eyes opened wide. “Bonesaw?” His gaze settled down, more contemplative. “I see.”  
  
Walking over I put a hand on his lape. “She fixed me up too. I know you’re not happy about it, but remember what you told me when we first met. This doesn’t change you.”  
  
He looked up, humming, “Ah...I suppose so. I just had hoped to never hear of her again.”  
  
I gave a snort. “You and me both buddy.”  
  
Konketsu arced a lapel at me questioningly, he spoke slowly, “I feel...different. Like I got stronger somehow after our near-death experience. Give it to me straight Taylor...Am I a super Saiyan?”  
  
I groaned, stifling a chuckle. “That’s it. No more anime for you. I’m separating you and Vista.”  
  
“You wouldn’t!”  
  
“Oh you bet your shiny cufflinks I would,” I retorted.  
  
He huffed, “That’s a violation of my rights.”  
  
I folded my arms with a small smirk, “Martial law was enacted two days ago. Anyway, you might feel a little different. You know the project we had with Parian, project Power-Up? Bonesaw fed you a kamui she made to give you the energy to pull through, basically.”  
  
Konketsu looked a little off-put, puffing out as he spoke, “Ugh, I think I’m going to be sick.”  
  
_How does he even manage turn sickly green?_  
  
Patting him lightly I just leaned next to him. “She had to replace a bunch of my organs too... We got our asses handed to us out there.”  
  
He didn’t vomit, not that I was sure he could, but groaned out, “Bluuuuh. That would explain a few things at least.” He looked up to me. “I didn’t ask yet, are you doing ok?”  
  
I shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t really have time not to be right now. Despite Bonesaw we’re still two minutes from midnight on the countdown to extinction.”  
  
“I know. But if you need a minute to examine your feelings, that’s ok. I think we both need a break right now.” He rested his sleeve on my arm reassuringly.  
  
It drew a small smile from me. “Thanks. I’ll do it after we’re finished. Until then I’ll hold together.”  
  
I have to. The thought accompanied the words at the same time. I tried not to think about Bonesaw, what she had done, how little of the real me was left. I had never expected the ship of Theseus to apply to my own body, but if I dwelled on it I risked falling back into my old thought patterns. The old me was always there, no matter what happened to my body. For good and for bad, I couldn’t help but hold onto my past.  
  
Keeping hold of it was even harder in other ways. When I looked back I saw how little any of it mattered. How petty my bullies had been, how small it had all been in the scheme of things. I didn’t want to forget that. For me, it had been my whole world. I remembered how the people in authority had failed me and ignored me and I made sure I would never become one of them. I had to keep my own self close, so that I would never forget her. It was all too easily sometimes, to want to forget I was ever so weak and sad. To just indulge in my power, my authority and my resolve until the past was all gone.  
  
I turned to Contessa. She had been waiting in the doorway ever since we got here, not that she could hear Konketsu’s half of the conversation. Or maybe her bullshit power let her do that too. It didn’t matter either way.  
  
“Are we free to go?” I asked.  
  
“Whenever you want to. I’d recommend sooner rather than later. Just ask for a door when you’re ready,” She replied, turning and heading out of sight down the hall. Had she been waiting just to answer that question?  
  
I shook my head. Trying to figure out why she did anything was pointless. I looked at Konketsu, all freshly stitched together again and starched.  
  
“Ready to head back?”  
  
“...Yeah.”  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
The door that opened took me to Brockton Bay. The door in front of me was unchanged from my last visit, still dressed to the nines in security. It was good to see that the command center hadn’t been breached yet. I stepped forward, tentatively putting my hand up to be scanned, letting the security check me out.  
  
The light flashed an unfamiliar yellow. _ Huh._ It had never flashed anything except green before. Yellow meant it was awaiting internal confirmation.  
  
After twenty seconds the door hissed open. Twenty different pistols pointed at me, various Thinkers behind their consoles. Narrowed eyes were trained on me, each Thinker pointing their brains at me. Missy, Dennis, and Carlos were front and center, clearly battle ready. I realized what had happened. _They thought I was dead and someone using my access just tried to enter. No wonder, that must’ve tripped nearly every security measure in the system._  
  
I saw Hunch stand up, holding the pistol point away from me and up towards the ceiling. He called out, “I’m getting a green two. Anyone?”  
  
Appraiser raised a hand from behind the console, “My connection to her feels the same as before.”  
  
Eleven shakily put the pistol down, “I’m getting burning bushes.”  
  
“I’m making the call, we have three point verification. Stand down everyone,” Citrine projected through the room.  
  
A palpable wave of relief spread through the room as Thinkers returned to their stations, safely stowing their firearms away. Dennis was the first to rush me, gripping me in a hug. Carlos was content to smile, staying to the side as Dennis got it out of his system.  
  
“Don’t scare us like that!” He berated me and I thought I caught a hitch in his voice as he chuckled nervously.  
  
Missy stepped up as Dennis let go and slapped me across the face.  
  
“That’s for not telling us what you were doing,” She huffed, looking like she wanted to say more.  
  
“We believed you made it out somehow, but after a day…” Dennis said, looking both anxious and relieved.  
  
Carlos nodded, smiling but stoic, “We had to consider the alternative. I think we’re all glad it wasn’t necessary though.”  
  
I smiled in return, a bit apologetic. “Sorry for worrying you. It’s a long story, but Cauldron bailed me out when things went south. If they’re planning to betray us, they passed up their best chance. Where’s Tattletale anyway?”  
  
Citrine stepped forward, taking the cue to join the conversation. “Receiving healing. What was left of the Fallen tried to assassinate several key leaders in your absence. Tattletale, surprisingly, managed to kill her opponent, but was critically injured. Other targets were Accord, Parian, Kid Win, Armsmaster, Chevalier, and Vista. None of the attacks were successful, though the attack on Parian resulted in the theft of several life fiber outfits.”  
  
“The Fallen? I thought we had rooted most of them out,” I growled, unhappy at the news. It would be nice if at least one group wouldn’t take a potshot at us.  
  
Citrine winced just slightly, “It seems one family had a Thinker that interfered with ours. A small sect that had kept to ground decided to try their luck.” She straightened out, saying firmly, “There shouldn’t be enough left of them after today to try again.”  
  
_Translation: Accord and his team probably killed them to the last man for daring to interrupt his plans at such a chaotic time._  
  
“Good,” I said without hesitation. It was good too. They may have been people, but people willing to help usher in the end of the world couldn’t be tolerated. Their entire cult was based around fucking others over. “Status report?”  
  
Aegis took the lead, “The base is uncompromised, we managed to lead Scion away from it before his most recent escalation. We lost Narwhal and Cinereal. Myriddin and Armsmaster were critically injured and are out of the action, but were recovered from the field. Dragon suffered several attacks, but is still operating somewhat. Panacea engaged him outside of Boston, survived but unless she second triggers to heal herself she’s probably out of it. Oddly Chevalier wasn’t attacked. His group had encountered Glaistig Uaine at the time, who Scion seems to be ignoring. All of the Birdcage capes you released are dead, save her. Kid Win and Accord are recovering from the Fallen attack. No sightings of Protectorate forces, they might not have survived. Europe is devastated, the UK was hit by Scion. Last sighting had him devastating eastern Russia. Casualties are in the tens of millions, predicted to rise rapidly.”  
  
I let out a breath and Konketsu whistled low. Things had escalated and badly. _ As we thought, he went for our strongest capes. I suppose we should count ourselves lucky we only lost two. It would’ve been three if Cauldron hadn’t pulled me out._  
  
_Agreed,_ came the thought from Konketsu. _ If he had managed even a little more, our leadership would be crippled. He’s not to be underestimated, however casually he’s treating this he’s smart.  
  
Yeah, he’s following the oldest lesson in history. Decapitate the leadership._  
  
Vista took over, “We’ve managed to evacuate around forty percent of North America to various alternative Earths. Without additional supplies, most won’t last long, but we’ve managed to depopulate the cities enough that if Scion hits them it won’t be as bad. It’s a holding measure at best, really. Everything is deployed and ready here, we know we’ll only get one shot. The Tailors managed to get a few more devices ready. String Theory has her G-Driver readying its firing sequence. We were going to engage Scion early, lure him out over the Pacific where she has it aimed, since she can’t change when it fires. If he survives, he’ll almost certainly come here.”  
  
I grimaced at that, it was a brutal strategy, but it made sense. We were better off taking the initiative if we could, rather than having him suddenly appear and start blasting apart our defenses. If we were ready, that was. If my top lieutenants deemed us ready enough, I would trust them. I didn’t know that String Theory was limited in when her devices could fire, but that too made sense. Most powers had some kind of limitation, save Eidolon, and her Tinkertech was already ridiculously dangerous. We could only hope it was dangerous enough this time.  
  
“What’s the payload?” I asked, knowing that my team was smart enough not to just waste normal shots on Scion.  
  
Vista gave me a vulpine grin. God, Tattletale had been getting to her again. “She called it a dimensional mass driver, describing it as a dimensional shotgun. Hits him with as many different things in as many dimensions as possible. The collateral will be huge, which is why we need to lure him out far from anything that might have people. For every dimension.”  
  
“So the ocean. Might kill some whales on Earth Tet or whatever, but them’s the brakes,” interjected Clockblocker.  
  
“It’s a good plan. When does it need to happen?” I kept the existence of my extra card up my sleeve hidden. I trusted them, but if Scion had access to every power by being the source then I had to assume he had access to Stranger and Master powers. We hadn’t seen him use them yet, but sequestering information was a good preventative measure. They trusted me, I knew I could count on them if I needed to draw it.  
  
Aegis scratched his head anxiously. “Ten minutes from now. We were just about to deploy before you returned.”  
  
“You’ve got some amazing timing, that’s for sure,” Vista said with a grim laugh.  
  
I shook my head. “Not me. I bet Contessa made sure I left right on time.”  
  
Clockblocker threw his hands up a little, “That woman creeps me out. What’re we going to do if she decides to be queen of mankind after this? Scion’s pretty much her only counter.”  
  
“We’re not going to pick a fight just because she’s vulnerable right now. If she’s a problem later, we will handle it. For now, she’s one of our strongest allies,” I ruled definitively.  
  
They all nodded to that, accepting it. I understood Dennis’ concern, it was a valid scenario. The thing was, we didn’t have the time or energy to worry about anyone else at the moment. Every iota of effort not spent on Scion might spell the end of the human race. Absolutely everything else came second to that kind of threat.  
  
I mused out loud, “It’s a risk, if he’s spying on us, but I don’t think he is. Get me the microphone and set it to all channels.”  
  
Aegis was the fastest to comply, reaching for the microphone at the center console. Vista warped the space between, handily beating him to the microphone and smugly handing it over to me. _Some things never change._ I took it as Aegis shot a dirty look at her and set the speaker to all channels.  
  
I tapped the mic, we were live.  
  
“Ensemble, this is your leader Ichor. Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”  
  
Clockblocker snorted behind me.  
  
“This has been a grim few days. The world has never seen devastation on this scale before. It will never see it again if we fail, because there will be no world left. Our only choice is to fight. It is the only practical option. The only moral option. We will not hide, hoping that the strength of others can carry us through this turbulent night. We are the resolve of humanity, the villains, the rogues, and the heroes who have all come together for a greater cause under the banner of Ensemble. The brave unpowered, willing to fight hand in hand with us against what even capes shake in fear of. It is we who shall pave the way to humanity's future!”  
  
“In eight minutes we will be enacting Operation Balder. This will be our one and only chance at stopping Scion. Many of us will not survive the coming fight. We fight so that humanity can survive, knowing this. I am proud of each and every one of you. Ensemble would not be what it is today without you. Today, we will show the world how we soar.”  
  
“That is all. Ready your stations.”  
  
Clockblocker put a hand on my shoulder as I switched the microphone off.  
  
“Shit Taylor, this is why we made you leader!” He said and I could hear the smile in his voice.  
  
The rest of the command center had maintained its workflow, far too much was relying on them to take a break for even a minute right now. The sheer amount of information that needed to be analyzed and relayed was, I was assured by most of them, mind boggling. Still, I saw a few small smiles and glances our way. Morale wasn’t a force to be underestimated. When people began to falter, it was the last line of defense, what would determine if they broke and routed or doubled down.  
  
And did we ever need them to double down and pull off a Hail Mary.  
  
“We’ve got less than five minutes,” Aegis reported, eyes darting around as he fidgeted.  
  
I nodded, heading for the exit. We had to be ready the moment the G-Driver fired. If he survived, he was going to come straight for us. We could only hope that we got lucky and he died over the Pacific. None of us expected it though.  
  
  
_Time for round two.  
  
_


	34. Interlude 11: Contessa

### Interlude 11: Contessa

  
  
The path required work. Daily upkeep, managing a thousand little variables so that nothing got out of hand. Checking constantly so that she was never surprised. Setting paths within paths, layering her power so that every conceivable option was covered, and even most of the inconceivable ones. It wasn’t as much work as it used to be, she had long ago learned how to form her paths more efficiently. Most of her routines were automated at this point, keeping their plans safe at every turn.  
  
She was only told what to do, not why to do it though. It was difficult at first, not knowing why someone had to live or die. Over time it became easier, knowing that the path would steer her unerringly toward her goal. If it said that this man must die so another could live, because ultimately he would allow them to succeed, then that was that. She had turned her actions over to the path and her conscience over to Doctor Mother.  
  
It had made sense at the time. Her power was restricted from the entity, crippled by the one they had killed. She didn’t have any experience, any knowledge, beyond what her power provided for her. Having someone else take point was useful, it kept her from freezing up like she had when she was younger. By now, it was just habit. The Doctor would take the lead, guiding their direction and Contessa would let her know if the paths got harder because of it.  
  
That was why she didn’t say anything now. Bonesaw was cornered by Alexandria and Eidolon. Contessa was required to act, not doing so would add hundreds of steps to her plan - the sign of a critical failure. She stepped out of the portal, washing Bonesaw in the Tinkertech ray emitted by the tiny pistol in her hand. She screeched and Alexandria went in for the capture, recognizing the action for what it was.  
  
The path dictated she leave now, though she would return in a minute. She stepped out of the way, letting the two disable Bonesaw. Down the courtyard, take a left, turn into the alley. Open a portal, step through it. Wait precisely three minutes and twenty-five seconds. Open a new doorway. Bonesaw’s upper half crawled on the ground in front of her, fluids leaking from her severed midsection. She turned her gaze towards the portal, fast and mechanical.  
  
“What the fuck?” The little voice said in anger and confusion.  
  
Contessa didn’t even need to go through the small door. Her hand stretch through, snatching Bonesaw by the nape of her neck and pulling her through. The portal closed a second later, with Alexandria left on the other side somewhere. Contessa knew she would bleed out there and die, but the path didn’t say to save her. That was as good as saying explicitly not to. Saving her would disrupt the path, add steps or remove futures she might’ve needed. So she left, with Bonesaw in hand. Alexandria’s body would be retrieved later.  
  
Alexandria would’ve understood the eminent practicality in the action. She was always the most practical, the most willing to make the hard choices. Had she known that Contessa had interacted with her for weeks, knowing full well that she would die, would’ve changed little. Not nothing, which is why Contessa had remained silent, but little. Unfortunately enough that the path would’ve changed.  
  
She wanted an army. Several armies, along with a number of other secondary and tertiary plans. Ichor’s power was perfect for that, a fortuitous addition to their arsenal. Helping nudge events so that she could acquire Bonesaw’s technology to reproduce her tinker-tech. Staying to the side when she confronted Alexandria and Eidolon, who had both been confident that they were protected by her paths. All necessary to let her have the means to mass produce life fibers and the opportunity to.  
  
Her model didn’t plan for Eidolon to die as well. He should be well capable, even in his waning power, of taking them on and winning. She was relying on David’s fundamental softness to not kill them. It was a risk, her paths couldn’t account for him directly, she had to use a model of what she understood of him. He would be mad, she knew that. He would blame her for Alexandria’s death, which would be worse for the fact that Legend wasn’t here to comfort him.  
  
As long as he survived, however, it would be worth it. He would fight Scion, even if he hated her for what she’d done. He knew the threat the entity posed, he had rebuilt his identity around it. As long as he would fight, she was fine with that. It wasn’t pleasant, but when she left things to the path it was easy to glance over discomfort. She had so many steps left and she knew this wouldn’t be the most uncomfortable thing she’d do.  
  
She’d looked ahead.  
  
Letting one of her closest conspirators die wasn’t even in the top ten of what she’d already done. She wondered, idly, what that said about her. Would anyone be discomforted by her death? Beyond the loss of a practical asset, probably not. They’d view her in the same cold, calculating way that she viewed everything through the lens of the path. Some would be comforted, in fact, her power helpfully provided.  
  
The next steps were important. She propped Bonesaw on a chair, securing her. She gave her a scalpel and an IV bag of fluid. The scalpel was weak, a manufacturing defect. It would break right before she finished repairing herself. She’d manage to save herself despite that, but would be denied the chance to do anything more. She had checked the path very thoroughly before bringing Bonesaw this close to her.  
  
She sat across from Bonesaw and waited. Her path told her to wait. She could guess why, it was having her mimic Jack Slash in controlling the flow of the situation. Appeal to something she already associated with authority, offer it as a replacement. She flipped ahead in the path, seeing how she would manipulate Bonesaw much like her previous attendant.  
  
A small part of her frowned inside. Despite everything she was, Bonesaw was just a girl. A girl that Contessa had created, in letting Jack Slash run loose for years. Useful, her power was an excellent potential addition if she could work with others. But she was just a girl. She had been young and vulnerable and there had been no dark-skinned woman who had come to guide her hands, just a man with a too wide smile and a different kind of knife.  
  
_Path to the same goal, while making her a better person._ The idea was half-formed, the shape of it enough for her power to take hold. An extra forty seven steps total, with most of the intervening actions changed. She didn’t have time to check every step, but she could get the gist of it. It would work.  
  
She committed to the plan, following the words picked out for her.  
  
“How are you, Riley?”  
  
  


\--Much, much later--

  
  
Contessa waited. There was a moment, just a tiny moment, where the grey fog around Ichor cleared and her power could once again reach. Scion was gone, off to pursue another fight that would inevitably end with the challenged cape dead. She grabbed that moment and re-ran a path from earlier._ How to save Ichor._  
  
Sixteen steps, different from earlier. The difference between Ensemble going out in a suicidal blaze of glory and putting up possibly the strongest resistance they had. It would require a distraction. Unavoidable asset loss. The secondary and tertiary plans were still, for the most part, running. Not all of them were ready though, they hadn’t expected Scion to rampage this early.  
  
_Damn Eidolon and damn his hero complex. _ She didn’t know what had happened, but she knew enough. Scion and Eidolon had met. Something had happened and Eidolon had kicked off the end of the world prematurely. Both were factors she couldn’t model directly, providing a fog for all her paths. She could roughly determine what happened by knowing the conditions entering the fog and the results afterwards, but it was a crude thing. She hadn’t felt genuine frustration in awhile. This was certainly frustrating her now.  
  
She moved to the next room, working on the steps for her current path subconsciously. Her thoughts turning over in her head as she went. She was angry at Eidolon for starters. He had known how critical it was they delay Scion’s rampage until the right time. The critical balance between more time to prepare and not so long that the world broke down irreparably. He had known, better than almost anyone, and he had still gone and done something foolish.  
  
Bonesaw protested as she was grabbed by Contessa like a sack of potatoes. It was step four. Contessa tuned the child horror’s whining out, rattling off the automatic explanation that would pacify and motivate her. Had she gone wrong in her handling of Eidolon? Seventy four steps were provided to answer it and she threw them aside. She was not about to go talk to him, not now.  
  
The answer was obvious anyway, she must have. She had planned for Eidolon to beat Ichor in New York, not to flee on a journey of self discovery and penance. She had thought she could convince him to return, not anticipating he would actively avoid her. One of the only people who could. She had assumed he would remember the plan and work within it, even in his mentally disrupted state. Many assumptions, many failures.  
  
Her understanding of David was, unfortunately, imperfect. That imperfection may have doomed them all. _For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost._ She had tried revising the model, but it continued to be flawed. Directing her power at the problem just got a grey fog around anything related to David. Doctor Mother had given her an answer, but it hadn’t been one she could use.  
  
Bonesaw was unceremoniously dropped off in the surgical theater, already salivating. It had been awhile since the girl had been allowed to exercise her power. The timing here would be absolutely perfect, because Contessa was following the path. Anything less and Ichor would die. The portal opened a fraction and water gushed out into the triage room. She reached her hand in, just barely getting far enough to grasp a piece of clothing.  
  
“Widen the door,” She spoke to thin air, already yanking her target towards the widening portal. The flow of water helped carry Ichor’s body in, Contessa guiding it up and out of the stream so the girl didn’t hit the floor. Suit pants wet, she quickly stepped into the operating theater, the portal behind her already closed. The triage room would need to be cleaned after that, certainly.  
  
The handoff was made and Bonesaw quickly took to work on the girl’s battered body. Contessa had seen capes survive worse injuries, some regenerators were simply ridiculous like Crawler had been. Still, a part of her noted clinically, the extent of injuries was severe enough that even a mid-tier regenerator would’ve died already. The girl had done well in her attempt, even if it had been inevitably doomed to fail.  
  
They would give her the contingency plan. It would be enough of a power boost that it would give Scion pause and it introduced enough complex interactions that some might surprise him. The contingency was unnecessary at this juncture anyway, Ichor was already on full war footing against the entity. She would either lead Ensemble to victory or be destroyed in the ensuing battle. Both outcomes were ones where Contessa had no need for her sword of Damocles.  
  
She stepped out of the operating theater, heading to one of the rooms to replace her drenched outfit. She needed to be dry for the path she would run next anyway, even if it would ruin yet another suit. Unfortunate, but the cape in Chile had to die or else they'd lose the continent. The words of Doctor Mother came back to her as her mind wandered again.  
  
_“Perhaps your model is wrong because you never really learned how to connect with people. You use your power for talking to almost everyone except David and myself. Two people is a small sample to try and model human behavior from.”_  
  
It was galling to her. The thought that she might have let the enemy’s own tool poison her thought process into making a critical error. She knew she was over-reliant on her power to give her direction, but having the Doctor was supposed to counteract that. Now, at two strokes until midnight, was she to learn that their approach had been fatally flawed? Her power simply gave her fog. Too close to Scion and David again.  
  
Contessa was not used to doubt. Uncertainty, yes. There was never any certainty their plan would work. But this amount of doubt was...unpleasant. Unusual. She resumed her previous path, feeling the emotion settle in the back of her head, politely out of sight. That was better. Regardless of whether the doubt was valid, she had work to do.  
  
If she survived through the end of it all, then she could think about it.  
  
Maybe she’d pick up a hobby, like learning how to bake.  
  
  



	35. Chapter 23: Imitation Gold

### Chapter 23: Imitation Gold

  
  
  
We stood above the main courtyard, waiting on the platform I usually used for announcements. It gave an excellent view of not only the courtyard but most of the city and surrounding skyline. Alternatively, by being so stuck out in the air, it was also easy to point every weapon we had at it without the risk of too much friendly fire.  
  
We waited, the breeze was constant this high up, making my hair messy and windswept. I watched the counter Kid Win had set up tick down, less than thirty seconds remained. Brood’s team, composed of our most agile and flight capable Case 53s, was currently tasked with the less than envious role of being bait. Chevalier was the A rank threat that accompanied them, ferried by one of Dragon’s suits. For Scion, a group like that should act as a beacon, drawing him out.  
  
I listened to the comm chatter, tuned into the channel for the operation.  
  
“Twenty-five seconds and counting.”  
  
“Not sure we’re gonna last that long. He’s pretty fucking feisty.”  
  
“Sorry Brood, but you don’t have a choice. Twenty seconds.”  
  
“We’ll hold. Pelican, move!”  
  
“He’s down, keep moving, we’re almost there!”  
  
“Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve-”  
  
“Shit, bank left. We’re off-target slightly.”  
  
“Nine, eight-”  
  
“There’s no time, dive!”  
  
“Six, five, four-”  
  
“He’s in position, hold him!”  
  
“Three, two, one. Firing.”  
  
There was no loud boom, no crack that split the heavens. I had expected something earth shattering that I would feel in my bones. Instead the cannon simply lit up at the end, electricity discharging into the space around it, and a pale beam fired out instantly reaching the horizon. It looked so small, but as I had been told, most of its payload wasn’t even in this dimension.  
  
“Target confirmed, strike was a success,” rattled off Networker, keeping that professional monotone that air-traffic controllers always seemed to have.  
  
“Chevalier, report.”  
  
“He’s gone. The beam hit and he just disappeared into it,” He reported breathlessly.  
  
A few cheers leaked over Network’s audio from the Thinker room. Our first shot was a success then, it had done _something_ to him. Hopefully it was enough to hurt him.  
  
“Status report?”  
  
“We’re down Brood, Falco, and Pelican. Evacuating with Glide and Hedgeman,” He replied dutifully, a pained note in his voice. I had to wonder if he hadn’t taken a hit from the sound of it.  
  
The channel switched automatically, putting me into the command channel for overall coordination. I could certainly appreciate the benefits of having a dozen Thinkers manage my needs at any given moment.  
  
“G-Driver is reporting a hit. We have no eyes,” reported Uncle.  
  
“Multidimensional analysis suggests a broad-spectrum hit. We’re seeing exotic particles in several worlds. Looks like he shifted across a few to avoid the hit but took it anyway,” Spire was rattling off from the data she had.  
  
“Ozone layer has a new hole in it too, from the looks of it,” someone reportedly with a slightly amused tone.  
  
“Target spotted, G-Driver!” shouted out Networker.  
  
My head whipped around, looking towards the now cooling Tinkertech weapon. Scion was floating above it, looking positively wrathful. The perfect golden features were twisted and warped, a disgusted sneer across his face. I felt a small shiver go down my spine at the sight. It was worse than the Endbringers, it was like we were ants that had managed to piss him off and were about to be crushed.  
  
The Elite Four had swivelled just as quickly, already on the defensive. It wasn’t our time yet though. A loud crack broke the air, much more viscerally satisfying than the G-Driver, despite its effectiveness. Kinetic rounds collided with Scion as he raised his hands brimming with golden light, clearly intent on wrecking the G-Driver. The first volley struck home, the rest sliding off him like water. It didn’t matter, a cross volley from the opposite side of laser fire peppered him. It was ignored just as quickly, the golden light growing brighter.  
  
“BFG is go, I repeat BFG is go,” Networker called out over the channel.  
  
Over the gate to the central courtyard was a very long and decorative looking piece of concrete. Over a hundred feet in length, it topped the massive wall. It was also not entirely concrete, but a railgun of massive design. One of the Tailor’s pride and joys, it was powered using the full capacity of the city’s power plants. I was told that the projectile would be launched at some fraction of the speed of light.  
  
I never got a chance to confirm it.  
  
It moved far too fast for my eyes. One instant Networker had called out the order, the next instant Scion was once again gone. A loud crack filled the air a second later as the sonic boom propagated outward from the massive barrel. The city was dark, the power had been entirely shunted to the ambitious weapon. The weapon had been designed with Endbringers in mind. Normally railgun rounds were designed to scatter on impact after penetration, few things had enough armor to warrant wasting all your kinetic energy on pure penetration. Not Endbringers though, they were so incredibly tough that no one had ever managed to get to their center.  
  
The BFG was our solution to that. There was no scatter on impact, no detonating shells. It was pure and simple penetrative power, designed to bore through anything and everything. The city’s lights flickered back on as power was restored, the power plants and their capacitor banks drained from the shot. Somewhat wasted on Scion, as he wasn’t particularly dense. The projectile was large enough however that it didn’t need to scatter. It just took Scion out wholesale. Even his ridiculous reactions couldn’t have kept up with something at those speeds.  
  
“Contact sighted, BFG hot.”  
  
We turned, seeing that Scion had reformed near the gun, looking possibly angrier than before. It seemed that even if we weren’t hurting him, we were certainly pissing him off. _Good, angry enemies make mistakes_. I could only hope that was actually true for him.  
  
Golden light blasted out, shearing into the structure and tearing it apart. Concrete shattered or was vaporized, the internal workings destroyed in instants. He only had a few seconds to tear apart the surrounding wall before our devices had enough time to lock onto him again. The Thinkers and Tinkers were working overtime to keep him pinned down as much as possible. Once things escalated into a full out melee with our capes, it would be a lot harder to control the flow of battle.  
  
“Bakuda payload deployed, stay clear,” Networker said, somehow managing to keep his cool despite connecting so many minds and machines. I had to imagine he wasn’t going to be able to keep this up for very long without a Thinker migraine shutting him down.  
  
A flash and grenades were shot into the air from one of the many turrets we had gracing our walls. Some were duds, some were conventional munitions. The idea was to make it hard for him to know which was exotic and which wasn’t. He didn’t even turn, his hand raised and light arced out from his fingers destroying each and every projectile before they even got close. The air below him was a mixture of exotic effects, some short lived like a miniature blackhole, some longer lived like the time bubble and rapidly growing chunk of silicon that were consuming each other.  
  
“He’s adjusting, use Tailor Three,” Hunch came through the crackling comms.  
  
“Tailor Three deploy,” Networker copied over, confirming the tactic shift.  
  
We hung back, sticking well clear of the exotic effects which could injure us far more easily than they injured Scion. Small poles that were at regular intervals on the top of the wall glowed a sickly pale blue at the order. Scion turned from his destruction of the now defunct railgun and G-Driver, spraying golden light at the devices. Each one he destroyed caused the others to collect more of that sickly blue glow to them. Hundreds adorned the wall, all part of some massive Tinkertech relay that was far outside my understanding.  
  
When half the rods were destroyed in mere seconds the blue glow propagated through the air, the growing cloud gaining speed on Scion. A wave of golden light washed out, breaking the front of the cloud apart. The light seemed to smother as the bulk of the cloud was hit by it, consuming it and then darting ever faster for Scion. He floated backwards, gaining some distance as he clapped his hands together. We all covered our ears, feeling the vibration travel through us painfully.  
  
The cloud trembled and collapsed inward, pale blue particles agglutinating and losing their light. _Well crap, I don’t think that’s how that one is supposed to work._ My own thoughts interrupted as the comms crackled to life again.  
  
“We need three minutes to recalibrate the other Tailor projects. Switching tactical command to Vista,” Networker said across cleared channels.  
  
Next to me Missy started speaking, the dual audio of her own voice and the channel filling my ears. Her voice carried her confidence and eagerness well.  
  
“Teams Sky Captains, Elite Fliers, and the Prismatic engage. Teams Ensemble Kansas City, Ensemble Seattle, and Ace of Spades are on deck, be ready,” she called out, watching from our perch on high.  
  
I was a bit surprised Scion hadn’t seen fit to take a pot shot at us yet, but he hadn’t had much spare time. The flurry of Tinkertech deployed at him had required his attention and now three teams of four to six capes were flying out from the interior to engage him. The first set of teams seemed to be primarily fliers with a mix of powers. Golden beams lanced out, threatening to tear through them before the first minute had passed. What I could only guess was Prismatic was suddenly enveloped in a scintillating rainbow shield, the beam colliding with it but not passing through. Must’ve been a team we picked up during the evacuations that had decided to throw their lot in with us.  
  
The Elite’s flier contingent did just as well, an inky blackness appearing that sucked in the golden beam harmlessly. The Sky Captains had taken a different approach, their team was known for its hyper-mobility and they swerved to the sides at breakneck speeds. The golden beams turned, following them relentlessly, crisscrossing through the air. Two of them fell from the air as golden beams intercepted their paths. Return fire came from Prismatic, Blaster powers shooting out to pepper Scion in a spray of color. It tore chunks from him, but it was just replaced moments later.  
  
_We’re not doing enough damage to him. At best, we’re whittling him down little by little. _ It was going to get even bloodier too, the longer this went on. Every time we lost a cape with a critical defensive power it meant losing three more down the line when their loss was felt. Our formations would fall apart given time, forming less effective more ragtag groups. We couldn’t let it get to that point.  
  
Scion was in among Prismatic, fists swinging in blows that I knew could shatter bone. They turned two-dimensional, some sort of Shaker effect, and pulled back. A wide golden beam managing to hit one despite the Shaker power, tracing a red line across him. Survivable, maybe. It was hard to tell how severe the wound was. The Elite’s fliers were engaging, each one paired with another cape who rode along with them. One pair was clearly a set of wind manipulators, one directing flight and the other attacking. Two pairs seemed to be more traditional fliers paired with shielders to keep them alive.  
  
They kept to evasive tactics, peppering Scion from a distance and avoiding golden beams. Several struck home, shattering shields and scoring light wounds, but the life fiber uniforms they wore were strong enough to resist the weakened beams. A thin beam, barely visible to the eye, whipped out and bent at impossible angles like a long whip. I grimaced, that trick would be difficult to dodge, the erratic movement hard to predict. One of the Elite spun out of control as the whip hit her leg, leaving a gash across it. The life fibers would keep her from bleeding out if it wasn’t too bad, but it wouldn’t make it hurt less.  
  
Missy spoke over the channel, “Wave one, retreat. Wave two, engage. Teams Ensemble Baltimore, the Risen, and Haven on deck.”  
  
Individual orders were undoubtedly being relayed on the individual team channels, occasionally Missy would speak something that didn’t echo through my headset. Her face was covered by her mask mostly, but I could see her features were grimacing underneath it. Even knowing it was Scion she was up against, taking this many losses was difficult for her. She took pride in her abilities, and this would inevitably feel like failure regardless of how well she did.  
  
The second wave of teams, primarily Ensemble forces, with apparently some survivors of the Suits, were spilling out of the inside structure. Scion didn’t wait to be engaged this time, however. He flew down, a beam of gold lashing across the building and sending concrete and steel flying.  
  
Missy yelled over her headset, “He’s going for the buildings, everyone evacuate!”  
  
I stood up, planting the scissor blade tip first in the platform, my hands on the pommel. Our plans were starting to fall apart. Scion couldn’t be allowed to engage our teams on his terms or our casualties would skyrocket. We still had several cards to pull, which meant it was my turn.  
  
This is why I was here. To keep things from going wrong.  
  
I looked down at him, his rampage destroying the outer layer of the building that several of the teams had been laying low in.  
  
“You ready Konketsu?” I asked, knowing the answer.  
  
“Of course Taylor,” He replied without missing a beat.  
  
My fingers ran down the clasp on my arm and in a flash of light, we were ready. Kicking off the platform I careened down at Scion, where he floated as he tried to ferret out our forces. Most of the teams had pulled back at Missy’s command and the cover provided by our base was working to keep them safe for now. I crashed feet first into Scion’s back, driving both of us hard into the ground below. Tumbling across the ground I quickly got to my feet, swinging the blade down to cut through him. The wounds slowed him, he limited how much we could do to him but it wasn’t instantaneous. He couldn’t take severe injury and attack at the same time, he needed some degree of cohesion.  
  
As soon as the cut was healed he opened his palm, a wave of golden light blasting out and washing over me. It barely tingled, meaning he hadn’t yet calibrated for my defenses. _He doesn’t remember opponents then?_ I swung hard, slapping his head with the flat side of the blade to send him down into the cracked ground again. No gesture this time, his body radiated with light and I was thrown back. I stumbled slightly, catching my balance as I landed. My blood was boiling, ready to be unleashed.  
  
I held it in. _Not yet_. I had to save that trick. I’d only get one shot, if he used that hemolytic power against me again. He jumped over, a fist outstretched as he tried to punch me. I stepped forward, catching it one handed, feeling the bones in my arm creak and fracture from the force. I grinned at him.  
  
“You forgot I’m not alone this time.”  
  
Aegis crashed into him as I held the remains of his arm in my hand. Aegis was already pushing a few feet taller than normal, raining blows down on Scion. Scion gleamed and suddenly Aegis’ blows were bouncing off him. The distance between them widened instantly, Vista preventing Scion’s retaliation. Beams of light and fire crashed down, bombarding Scion as some of the capes had rallied back around. More were coming out of the woodwork, our small distraction having given them time to rally.  
  
I grit my teeth and dove in, sliding straight into his range in order to swing my blade for him once more. Chevalier was swinging his own cannonblade from the other side, leaving nowhere for him to go. Both blades collided with him, cutting chunks from the golden body. We fell into a rhythm, covering for one another. He would go for a blow and I would signal Kid Win to rain Tinkertech laser fire down on Scion. I’d need to back off and he’d fire his cannonblade, throwing Scion off balance.  
  
We had him pinned down, there was just too many powers being launched at him for every defense to work. Vista had been right about using the more esoteric powers. One moment he had some sort of golden haze, beams were fizzling out as they hit it, but Chronos’ power broke through. Another moment he was as hard as diamond and bolts flew at him, fired by Flechette. He shifted suddenly, his movements perfectly fluid as he avoided the bolts. A golden beam fired directly for Foil and shields went up to block it. It cut through them, breaking four shields in quick succession and scoring into her shoulder.  
  
She fell back from the hit and I moved in, swinging the blade for his head once more. His hand snapped up, catching the blade and he squeezed, shattering the edge where his hand was. Something was wrong, he was moving differently now. My fist flew out, I still had enough of a Brute rating to give him something to worry about. He sidestepped my punch and I felt his elbow hit my ear, the world spinning. I was tumbling across the concrete, shattered and blackened from the different powers being deflected into it.  
  
Aegis tried to crush him with two massive hands and he stepped forward, cleanly avoiding getting caught and uppercutting Aegis. It was too clean. Scion was a strong fighter, not a trained one. This felt like…  
  
I felt the pieces come together. It felt like Contessa.  
  
He was using his own version of her power.  
  
“Fall back!” I shouted. We didn’t have a chance at close range if he was using her power.  
  
Even with the warning, it was too late. Golden light burst out from around him, small golden spheres pelting capes and burning through them where they hit. Dozens collided into Aegis at close range before he froze in place, Clockblocker’s hand on his back. I cursed, it would save Aegis for the moment but only if Scion didn’t decide to finish him off. Otherwise he’d be helpless until the freeze wore off.  
  
Clockblocker was running for Scion, weaving at impossible angles as Vista warped his path. A shot of golden light zig-zagged through the warped space, hitting him dead center despite the impossible geometry of the intervening space. But if he was using her power, it wouldn’t matter. He would always have the right solution presented to him.  
  
Clockblocker was staggering, his chest smoking from the hit. Capes were falling back in a ragtag mess, our cohesion was lost between spitfire shots of gold. Several threw counter attacks, but he avoided or nullified them with the same disgusting ease. I could tell that others had noticed he was fighting differently too. The aura of tension and fear surrounding him was almost palpable as he had gone from something we could fight to something that was tearing through us with contemptuous ease.  
  
I needed to get Dennis out of there, first of all. I pushed off the ground, staying low to avoid the shots flying out around us and grabbed Dennis by the waist. It would hurt at this speed, but it was better than leaving him to be finished off by a second shot. We flew over the ground as I dashed with long, bounding steps. Vista appeared in front of me and I skidded to a halt, offering Dennis to her.  
  
“Take him out of here!” I shouted over the cacophony of fighting.  
  
She just nodded grimly, taking him in a fireman’s carry as I handed him off. A moment later and she was warping away, carefully changing space to keep them safe as she jogged. Kid Win was flying low, strafing as he peppered the area around Scion. A swarm of drones and turrets flying around with him. He was using his suit to rapidly fabricate more, throwing them into the grinder to keep Scion somewhat busy. Golden whips spun out between the swarm of drones, colliding into retreating capes even still.  
  
He had stopped moving perfectly, instead making small mistakes again. A glancing shot here, a missed beam there. _ Why turn it off if he can crush us with it? Does he not want to win? Or is it costly to use somehow?_ He didn’t seem to re-use powers too frequently save for the generic beam he would shoot out. He had re-used several tricks so far, but he also didn’t hesitate to throw new ones at us.  
  
What was his objective? The theory had been that he was seeking a good fight at first. After two days of fighting parahumans, he had to realize he wasn’t going to get it by now. So why keep fighting? Why hunt down larger and larger groups? It didn’t make sense.  
  
The words from the meeting with Cauldron came back to me. It didn’t have to make sense. He wasn’t going to let us out of this alive regardless. Maybe his motive would help us counter him, but as it was we had to kill him either way. I heard the comforting sound of my comm crackle alive again.  
  
“Tailor Six deploying. It should keep him busy for a minute, use this time to fall back and re-group.”  
  
I felt myself exhale a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. I had the feeling everyone who had begrudged the Tinkers their large budget were changing their minds today. Scion stepped forward, reaching out to unleash some sort of attack on the fleeing teams. He popped several feet back, stepping forward again and reaching out. He popped back again, and the same sequence played out.  
  
Gray Boy’s power.  
  
Not a perfect copy, but it had been one of the greatest achievements of the Tinker department. It couldn’t have fired any sooner, it was reliant on the same huge generators that had powered the BFG. The more exotic the effect, typically the more raw electrical power it took. Possibly because our understanding of the technology was incredibly piecemeal and we were just taking massively inefficient routes. That same power consumption sharply limited how long we could generate the effect. It also didn’t have the same invisible barriers that Gray Boy made, meaning the zones were quite dangerous.  
  
Ensemble teams retreated across the courtyard, some taking cover behind fallen chunks of concrete, others taking to the sky. I saw Chevalier being helped away by his team, his blade was chinked and degraded. Sometime during the fight he must’ve take a bad hit to his knee from the way his leg was turned. Kid Win was setting up barriers around Scion’s trapped form. Bone was weaving into a dome around his own barriers, I could see Marquis working from a distance. Several other capes started to layer on their own barriers, a shield springing to life before the entire trap turned two-dimensional and folded sideways.  
  
I checked in on the comm channel, “How much time do we have?”  
  
Spire answered back, “Another forty seconds of power, no idea if he’ll break out of it first. Other projects will need time to deploy, the capacitor banks are entirely empty.”  
  
I could hear Missy on the other channel, ordering teams into some sort of organized response. More exotic traps were being laid down around his location. Lines of ash, red sigils in the air, a vacuum effect.  
  
Networker spoke up, “Thirteen casualties, twenty seven injured. Clockblocker is in emergency care.”  
  
“We’ll prep Tailor Two for our next deployment, but these things weren’t meant to be used so rapidly. We don’t have the manpower or the raw power,” Spire protested.  
  
Appraisal cut in, “We understand, but Thinker analysis is that these deployments are the only thing slowing him down from completely destroying us. He might be holding back from nuking us due to the number of unknowns we’ve been throwing at him.”  
  
Spire ground out, “I get that, but even we have to follow physics sometimes. Tailor Seven is our best bet, but with Armsmaster under sedation we can’t make it work.”  
  
I hesitated. I could give the order, but Armsmaster’s sedation was a medical necessity. He was in bad shape after the attempt on his life. The first attack by Scion hadn’t helped matters. Two critical injuries in short order would’ve ended less tenacious capes. But on the other hand, I knew what Armsmaster would’ve wanted.  
  
“Wake him up,” I gave the order. My heart sank as I said the words, knowing I was likely resigning one of my most loyal friends to his death. We had had a rocky start, but he had tried to atone and put his ridiculous drive into being a better person.  
  
Networker responded, “Acknowledged, relaying to the medical team. Spire, prep for Armsmaster’s arrival.”  
  
“There’ll be no need for that Spire, I’ll get his lab ready,” Dragon said, a note of sad resignation in her voice.  
  
Another sink of my heart, knowing I was robbing Dragon of her best friend. I would be robbing humanity of its future if I held back at all at this junction. I had to do everything in my power to repel Scion, even if it meant the destruction of Ensemble. What was the point of Ensemble surviving if there was no one left to protect?  
  
The other channel cut in, someone shouting, “I’m detecting something from Scion!”  
  
I returned my focus to the battlefield, eyes fixated on the cage of exotic effects before me. Any other cape would’ve been trapped, too many different powers for anyone to have pushed their way out of. Even legends like Alexandria would’ve faced defeat before the combined powers we had brought to bear.  
  
Scion walked out of it.  
  
He walked out of the bone weave dome, the bone dissolving as he simply stepped through it like mist. Marquis staggered, golden rimmed holes appearing in his form before he dropped to the ground. As Scion stepped over the lines of ash another cape gurgled and fell to the ground, blood pooling out from them. I had spun, trying to figure out how he was attacking capes without raising a hand.  
  
“Drop the effects! Release them!” I heard shouted by Hunch over the priority override.  
  
_Of course, he’s somehow killing capes whose power he’s coming into contact with. _ The barriers started to drop, but not all of the effects were things that could be released so easily. The cape in red, Phantasm if I recalled, fell from the sky as one of his red sigils shattered. I didn’t see her, but the cape with Prismatic who had done the 2D effect must’ve been affected when he broke out. _If he can have any power, that includes Trump powers._  
  
Aegis stepped forward, swinging a huge fist at Scion. His arm shattered on impact, exploding back and falling limply to his side. So the power isn’t just for indirect attacks. A lesson I would’ve preferred to learn with someone more expendable than Aegis, frankly. Scion batted him to the side and he went flying. I was less worried about him than I would be for most. For one, flying was something he could do. Two, he was a tough enough Brute that the injury wouldn’t kill him. I couldn’t be sure he’d be back up terribly quickly though.  
  
Scion continued walking forwards, his step faltering and stopping as his head was cleaved clean from his body momentarily. He paused, his body reforming as he searched for his target. I hadn’t seen who had managed to injure him despite his reflection power. He shot a burst of gold towards a spot behind him and shields started to pop up around him again. A staccato burst of golden shots neutralized them as they appeared. He was headed for the center of the courtyard, perfect for us to fire on but also perfect for him to batter our entire base down.  
  
I licked my teeth, taking a moment to debate my next move.  
  
“All teams fall back from the courtyard to the building,” I commanded, flexing my powers as I did.  
  
The massive reservoir of blood under the city was still there, still ready for me. It had suffered somewhat for my absence for over a day, but there was still enough to qualify as a decent sized lake. Teams started to fall back and Scion began to float up into the air, angling to pursue. If he followed, it would ruin my plans.  
  
I leaped into the air with a burst of superspeed, tackling him and pulling him down onto concrete once more. I felt golden light burn across my stomach, Konketsu giving a sharp whistle of pain as he took the brunt of it. Slamming my elbow down, he collapsed as his clavicle and everything underneath it was crushed in a show of force. Unfortunately as effective as anything else, he merely corrected his posture and threw a punch that I narrowly avoided.  
  
Some teams were still fleeing the courtyard. A not insignificant amount had injured teammates they had hidden behind the debris who they were evacuating. They would have to find it in them to move a little faster. I didn’t expect Scion would put up with my distraction for long. Concrete beneath us cracked and blood gushed through the cracks, coalescing into long tendrils that whipped around and slammed down onto Scion. I heaved with my power and the ground broke, swallowed by the rising tide of red.  
  
I felt Scion within the maelstrom, a small presence within the lake-sized vortex of blood I pulled him into. He was being battered with forces on the scale of tsunamis, massive walls of liquid crashing into him and constantly trying to shred his body. Within moments I felt the telltale feeling of my blood haemolyzing and falling out of my control. It spread from the center, rapidly consuming my vast reservoir as he neutralized my power yet again. I could feel an injured cape who had fallen behind, caught on the edge of my blood vortex. His costume felt spikey and rough, maybe some sort of armor. Before the golden decay could reach all my stock I used a gush to push him up and out of the way, through one of the second story windows.  
  
Konketsu muttered from my chest, “We should move, if that hits us again…”  
  
He didn’t need to say anymore. I knew as well as he did that we’d be crippled once more if that blood neutralizing power touched us again. We flew up into the air, keeping distance from where I roughly remembered Scion being. I watched as the pool of blood that filled the destroyed courtyard turned dark red and back, forming solid chunks. I had lost my reservoir in less than a minute, but it had bought us a little more time.  
  
Scion slowly rose out of the mess, his stained outfit becoming pristinely white after a moment. One of Dragon’s mechs fired a barrage of small missiles from the roof down at him, a colorful display of exotic effects blooming to life. His shape was warped and twisted in terrible directions, like one might imagine Vista could do if she wasn’t Manton limited. It seemed to take its toll on him, several seconds were spent clearly fighting the effects and curtailing them.  
  
Two capes with Blaster powers fired on him. A helical beam of scintillating colors collided with him at the same time as a colorful verdant beam. Golden retaliation shot out, intercepted by a layer of shields which cracked and burst but didn’t entirely break. I saw Crucible catch him in his forcefield, exploding the inside with Scion in it. His forcefield burst and he staggered, holding his head. Some form of power feedback. A shame, his power rarely got to be fully utilized with how lethal it was.  
  
He turned, firing another shot at the group blasting him from on high. Again the shields went up, layers like when we tried to hold back Leviathan or stop Behemoth. The shot split, smaller ones spreading out and hooking around the shields. Some caught on the edge of the shields, or were intercepted by the faster capes. The rest exploded into the building knocking out windows and hitting some of the capes who had been providing support.  
  
I made my move, diving down towards Scion once more. He turned and Konketsu let out a burst from the vents on my back, jerking us sideways. Scion followed, meeting me mid-air as I reached out, grappling him. I could feel his hands crushing down on my shoulders as I drove a knee into his gut. Without a reaction he spun, tossing me into the side of the building. Concrete shattered as I caught myself from falling. A cape with a horned pearly white mask had his head sticking out the window next to me, mouth agape.  
  
“I-Ichor...you okay? Uh, Ma’am,” he hastily corrected himself.  
  
I grunted something vaguely affirmative and felt a sudden flash of pain as golden light cut across my body, crossing from shoulder to hip. My regeneration was working better than ever, most likely thanks to Bonesaw, and it began to stitch up immediately. I couldn’t help but be aware of how fatal the blow would’ve been with anything less than fantastic regeneration. I pushed off the wall, only to feel my body collide into it again as golden light beat against me.  
  
I struggled forward, muscles groaning as I pushed against the pressure forcing me back. The wall shattered behind me, collapsing inward and I was pinned to the floor inside, cracks spider webbing out already. I pushed up against the all consuming golden light, forcing myself to my feet. I would not kneel to the likes of him.  
  
As sudden as the light had struck, it stopped. I squinted, trying to adjust to the sudden dimness of the world when it wasn’t fill with exterminating light. I saw a green glow envelope gold and a voice boomed out.  
  
“Ichor. You are not without allies.”  
  
A second voice spoke, a lilting female one.  
  
“To let such valiant souls perish would make a sad story indeed. The best kind, but I think not for today.”  
  
My vision cleared and I saw the two of them, standing defiant in the hole that I had been blasted through. Eidolon and Glaistig Uaine. The Faerie Queen turned, giving me a small and knowing smile. Eidolon stood triumphant, a green shield ensconcing Scion. He broke out of it and Eidolon responded, space twisting at sharp angles, keeping Scion trapped.  
  
I moved slowly, taking my time so as not to stumble or appear weak. I could feel my strength returning quickly now that the barrage had abated.  
  
“Eidolon. Faerie Queen. Good to see you alive,” I worked out, nodding to them both.  
  
How else to respond to someone we had thought dead and another who was insane? And Eidolon hadn’t exactly been the most sane himself when we had last met. But they were the two most powerful capes in the world and they were here. Helping. For now, it would do.  
  
Glaistig Uaine did not turn but spoke, amused, “It is not only us you have to see. Gaze upon your allies, that you might see them in their final and greatest glory.”  
  
I stepped forward, beside Eidolon and peered out of the hole. Dozens of capes stood upon the roof, bolstering the few we had who had yet to take cover. I spotted the King of Cups and Queen of Spades. A few of the Suits, missing many of their number. A surprising contingent of the Thanda, and a colorful collection of Adalid’s people. Even Faultline’s Crew, despite our difficult history. Other capes, ones I didn’t recognize, stood there silhouetted by the setting sun.  
  
Eidolon nodded to us both in turn. “Shall we?”  
  
The Faerie Queen smiled lightly. “We shall.”  
  
I curled my fingers into fists. “Let’s.”  
  
Eidolon opened his hands, a ray of red that felt dangerous to look at bled out into the sky, colliding with Scion. The Faerie Queen summoned her ghosts, the apparitions lifting her and Eidolon into the sky in a regal manner as Scion froze the beam, shattering it. Golden light washed out over the two, one of Glaistig’s ghosts created a hole which sucked the light into it. The sphere of gold was grabbed another ghost, a blue glow around the edges as it became empowered somehow and thrown back at Scion. Scion swatted it aside, his hand disappearing as it touched the orb.  
  
As the two engaged Scion head-on I took a second to watch. Eidolon was trading powers out faster than I had ever seen him do before, keeping Scion on the defensive. He looked alive. Golden and green light awash around him as destruction bloomed in the sky above Brockton Bay and I had never seen him look so alive. Our meeting in New York had ended with his visage empty and depressed. Before that, he had seemed restless when we were fighting Leviathan. But now, I was seeing him as he truly wanted to be. Tattletale had been right, saving the world was what he believed to be his calling. Glaistig Uaine was providing support, but much like a couple in a dance she let him lead. Holes in his defense covered smoothly by her, lulls in his attack filled by distractions from her ghosts. She was in no way his lesser, perhaps even more dangerous than him, yet she was content to follow.  
  
It struck me as odd. She had been largely ambivalent to the world as whole and even the issue of Scion when she had been released from the Birdcage. What had changed? Something must’ve convinced her that now was the time to fight. Yet she was also holding back. She had committed to the fight, but wasn’t fully playing her hand. On her own she was equal to Eidolon, she could’ve pushed back Scion equally as hard.  
  
I didn’t have time to speculate, however. In the few seconds I had hung back, the sky was already awash in a deadly criss-cross of fire. My help might tip the balance.  
  
“Command, status of the Tailor projects?”  
  
Networker replied almost immediately, “Projects one, two, and five are offline after the damage done to the building. Project four is online, but unlikely to be helpful. Project seven is still being completed.”  
  
I clicked my tongue in frustration. It figured that all those shots he had been firing out weren’t just misses.  
  
“Timeline on seven?” I asked as I felt Konketsu ready himself for the fight.  
  
“Thirty minutes is our estimate,” he replied, somehow still cool and calm.  
  
“Copy. Priority is deploying Tailor Seven. Do what you have to,” I said, not waiting for the acknowledgement as I leaped into the sky.  
  
Scion was higher than before, busy fending off the combination of Eidolon and Glaistig Uaine. Teams were engaging at a distance, firing into the dance of powers as they saw fit. The turbine on my back screamed as I flew up into the air, dodging stray shots as they exchanged blows above. Golden orbs were careening wildly through the air as Eidolon evaded them, switching to a power that let him point at the orbs and destroy them. An invisible weapon, or perhaps a trump power.  
  
I rocketed for Scion and orbs quickly curved into my path. The first one I collided with burned as I flew through it. More were in front of me as I came out of it and I crossed my arms in front as I powered through, the burning sensation steadily worsening. I couldn’t see a thing as I pushed through, blinded by the cluster of orbs attempting to destroy me. In an instant they disappeared and I saw the Faerie Queen beside me, her ghost waving its hand as a field enveloped me. I could feel it soothe the burns as my flesh healed.  
  
“Your fervor is commendable, Auric Parasite, but your faerie is ill-suited to this fight,” she said as Eidolon swung a translucent sword at Scion behind her, cleaving him in twain.  
  
I threw up a hand, blood snaking out in a spiked tendril for Scion. _So her weird moniker for me is Auric Parasite, huh? Well, I’ve been called more insulting things._  
  
“I appreciate your concern-” I grunted, blood ripping into Scion as I dodged the retaliatory fire, “-but I can’t back down here.”  
  
Memories of Dauntless flashed in my head for a brief second. No, this was different, there was no choice here.  
  
A thunderclap sounded as Eidolon was repulsed and one of her apparitions shielded us from the shockwave.  
  
“Yes, which is why we came. You are the one closest to him, which makes you the weakest against him. Retreat, you will not find the victory you seek on the frontlines,” She casually replied, her ghosts still working to keep us safe as Eidolon spun in a grapple with Scion.  
  
_Closest to him? I didn’t even care about the golden bastard until a few days ago._ They said the Faerie Queen was insane, but she spoke with such clarity I had trouble believing it. Then again, so had Jack Slash and he was undoubtedly insane as well. Was she so convinced of her own particular brand of crazy that she came off as genuine, or did she know more than she let on?  
  
My mind was called back to the meeting outside the Birdcage, where she had confirmed Scion was the threat. How had she known at the time? I had been in such a rush to get things done that I hadn’t realized, but she had no way to know. By all rights, she should’ve been trapped in the cage with no knowledge of what was happening. Certainly she shouldn’t have known things we had only just learned at the time.  
  
_What can I do if not fight? I can’t help the Tinkers or Thinkers. My Shaker rating is pretty much useless against him. But I can’t just retreat and leave my people to fight him without me. _  
  
“What victory?” I asked, Scion was busy lancing gold down at the Blasters below who were assisting Eidolon. Several fell as gold cut through them.  
  
Her attention was stolen momentarily, saving Eidolon from some sort of vortex power that was pulling ghostly figures from nearby capes into it.  
  
“The one you seek, to end the stunted cycle. You are right to pursue tricks and traps, as strength will avail us naught against him. At best, we can lull him back to sleep. He is stronger than all of us together, and will remain that way for a long time. He is the Goliath. It is fortunate we have a David, but he may not be enough,” she replied, gesturing to Eidolon.  
  
I grimaced, watching the fight around us. She wasn’t wrong was the problem. I was, at best, a glorified meat shield when it came to Scion. All my strength amounted to nothing, even less useful against him than against the Endbringers. My regeneration was working, but how long would that continue? If I stayed in the fight too long he’d pull the same trick as before to disable it and finish me off. It was clear that when someone annoyed him too effectively he made downing them a priority. The only reason I was still alive was my sporadic engagements and lack of effectiveness.  
  
“Fuck,” I spat out, speeding off below to what was left of our headquarters.  
  
Huge chunks of concrete and steel were missing, holes torn out of the building where attacks by Scion had hit. Terrible scars wound across the exterior, detailing the devastation he was capable of. I saw stains of blood, sometimes just charred and blackened ash, where capes had fallen in the fight so far. In some places, even that wasn’t left.  
  
The ground was a chaotic mess of blood and concrete, the remains of my attack had left the courtyard completely uncrossable by normal means. I flew over it, aiming low for the back of the great signet shaped building. The command center was presumably intact, it was built to withstand even Endbringers and he hadn’t seemed to target it yet.  
  
I flew through a hole in the wall, finding myself in the same familiar hallways I had spent the last year in and out of. I jogged down the hallway, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be hiding out in this part of the building. While most were still out there supporting Eidolon there was a chance some of the more fragile capes were still in cover.  
  
I rounded a corner and took a flight of stairs in a single leap, getting to the floor I needed to be on. The familiar door was down the hall and a significant chunk of the building right past it was missing._ Fuck. Seems I was wrong about him not aiming for the command center._  
  
Moving down the corridor I quickly came to the hole in the wall, leaping through into the command center. The room had lost about a third of its space to whatever attack had destroyed the area, the rest of the center patched together with makeshift relays and construction to keep it running. People worked frantically at the consoles that remained, some doubled up at stations. Screens showed everything from the fight with Scion to evacuation efforts in Toronto.  
  
A figure in a wheelchair rolled over to me, arm wrapped in a bloody bandage and immobilized in a sling.  
  
“What’s up boss?” Tattletale said with a fatigued smirk.


	36. Chapter 24: Past the Infinite Darkness

### Chapter 24: Past the Infinite Darkness

  
  
Tattletale had a look of consternation as she parsed what I had told her. Relaying the Faerie Queen’s words to our best Thinkers in hopes that they could pick it apart for something useful faster than I could. Tattletale wheeled around, pointing to Hunch and beckoning him over.  
  
“Hunch! I need you for five minutes.”  
  
He grimaced, glancing at his own screen, but got up.  
  
“I’ll assume it’s important. I was getting some ideas from watching Eidolon fight Scion,” he said with a hint of reproach.  
  
She waved him off dismissively, “As if we’ll live long enough to use ‘em. This escalates like it did in Turkey and we’re gonna be a finely ground dust, Payback or no.”  
  
I frowned at her and she shrugged, “Right, right. Sorry, hard to keep my spirits up considering everything.”  
  
She wasn’t wrong. We had lost dozens of capes, our base was being torn to shreds, and half of our traps had only served to buy us a bit of time. Not to mention the mounting injuries, destruction of our infrastructure, and lack of observable results. Things were going downhill without any sign of stopping. Without Eidolon and Glaistig Uaine we might have lost the base by now.  
  
Tattletale’s own injuries certainly couldn’t have been making things easier for her. I wasn’t sure if it was from the ambush she had survived or from a stray shot from Scion, but frankly she looked terrible. Her hair was a long blonde mess, dirt caked in it. Bags were visible under her eyes even through the mask and a persistent cough interrupted her frequently. Without a Mover she wouldn’t be able to evacuate in her condition. She was wearing one of our regalia as well, which meant this was how she looked after the vitality boosting effects it gave.  
  
I looked to Hunch, “The Faerie Queen told me that I can’t fight Scion directly. I’m too close to him she said. Told me to look to tricks and traps. Called me the Auric Parasite as well.”  
  
Tattletale picked up, her energy for showing off never faltered, “Auric means golden I think, she’s referencing Scion with it. We know she has an insight into powers. How much of it is her own brand of fucked up crazy, we can’t be sure of, but she hasn’t been so dangerous by being stupid. So what’s the connection between Ichor and Scion?”  
  
“Well she used auric as a modifier for parasite. It can also mean a living aura. The parasite part is important I think. It’s not her blood power. My power is leaning towards it having to do with the life fibers...but not entirely?” Hunch proposed.  
  
Tattletale furrowed her brow, “It’s something close to Scion...we can’t discount it may have a mental block around it, like he does. We still have countermeasures running for that?”  
  
Hunch nodded, gesturing a running digital clock above the center screen, “Appraisal took over overwatch duties for it an hour ago. Two incidents, but neither were us, yet.”  
  
She brushed it off, continuing, “Good. So how can she be close to Scion? He’s got every power, every trick. He’s some sort of interdimensional entity that goes around to planets. His kind has some sort of lifecycle where they-oh fuck me, she wasn’t talking about her powers.”  
  
Hunch went wide-eyed and looked at me. They both looked distinctly uncomfortable and I looked back to them, “What? What is it?”  
  
“We have to shut down project COVERS immediately,” Hunch said fearfully.  
  
Tattletale threw her good arm up to block him, “No. No, this is what Glaistig must’ve meant. She knew somehow. Fuck, people’ve been discounting her for being crazy for years and she might’ve known about this entire thing. I wonder if Contessa is the reason she wound up volunteering to cage herself? Cauldron wouldn’t have wanted someone wandering around spouting off their secrets on the off chance someone did listen to her.”  
  
I was starting to get a little unsettled by being out of the loop, snapping my fingers at them. An unfortunate habit that I had developed with how often Thinkers and Tinkers lost focus.  
  
“Fill me in, I can’t follow whatever crazy logic jumps you two made.”  
  
Hunch glanced to Tattletale uncertainly and she rolled her eyes, replying to me, “Taylor, I know you’re good at keeping a calm head, so I think you can handle it just fine, but don’t prove me wrong, ok?”  
  
I shot her a look and nodded grudgingly.  
  
“Scion, whatever he is, jumps from planet to planet. He has a lifecycle, as we learned from Cauldron. This involves giving powers to the population, stress-testing them basically. Now Cauldron told us even if we fixed the cycle, it wouldn’t end well for us. What do you think this means?”  
  
I shrugged, “Probably kills us all anyway, for some other reason I would assume.”  
  
She nodded, “Not just that, but these things...they travel across the galaxy. Hell, they can predict the future, manipulate gravity, and all that. That can’t be energy cheap. My guess? He absorbs the planet or breaks it down for energy or something like that. Anything that gets a return on his investment. Somehow it’s not good for us, either kills us in the process or will ruin the planet left for us.”  
  
Hunch spoke up, evidently having picked up Tattletale’s flair for elaboration, “What do life fibers do? They grant their wearers increased power, in your case basically an entire powerset. They are also, distinctly, parasitic. Your kamui requires blood and we know that short of direct modification like Panacea received, is too dangerous for anyone to wear. Regalia take a toll on their users. We decided, under your guidance, that it was a good idea to spread life fibers across the world. Improved durability and survival seemed like a good idea, right?”  
  
“But what if it wasn’t that simple?” Tattletale interjected. “Think about it: life fibers are almost a scaled down version of Scion. They grant powers in exchange for your energy, and are only safe when diluted. Like Manton limits. What if part of how life fibers work is by spreading themselves across a world, much like Scion does? How do we know there wasn’t a subtle Master effect all along? We looked for it early on, but what if we missed something?”  
  
Konketsu protested, “I’m not like him though! I don’t want to eat humans or whatever it is she’s implying.”  
  
I relayed to them, “Konketsu is sentient though, he doesn’t want to do that. Hell, it was our idea to spread life fibers, he never pushed it.”  
  
She held up a finger, “Konketsu is an exception. Junketsu wasn’t truly sentient from your accounts, mostly primal emotions. Diluted outfits certainly show no signs of sentience. For better or worse, Bonesaw’s influence might’ve saved him from ending up similarly. That doesn’t mean the rest isn’t true.”  
  
I protested and she cut me off, “Think about it Taylor! A lifeform comes to a planet, grants superpowers, and spreads itself over the world. They work the same way. If it was just that, I could chalk it up to coincidence, faulty parallels, but Glaistig Uaine pointed it out. She called you parasite because that’s how life fibers work. We haven’t seen the end of a life fiber’s life cycle and I’m not sure we want to now.”  
  
Konketsu shook against me, “No, that can’t be right. We’re different than that. Aren’t we Taylor?”  
  
I hesitated, “I...don’t know.”  
  
Konketsu trembled, “If that’s true, then Bonesaw is the only reason I’m not a monster. She...saved me.” The last note held disgust and fear.  
  
“That doesn’t make what she did to you right. It just means you were lucky. You’re still you Konketsu,” I tried to reassure him.  
  
Tattletale looked concerned, interrupting, “Konketsu? I know I can’t hear you dude, but stay strong, okay? You’re as heroic as any of us, regardless of your origins. Humans have pondered for eons whether we’re bound by our nature and I gotta tell you, I’m pretty firmly convinced actions make the person. You’ve been a hero your entire life, that’s leagues better than a lot of us.”  
  
Hunch nodded, “Yeah. I can’t hear you either, but we’re Thinkers. We can get the idea of what’s going on, you know? You’re one of the most reliable, dependable, and heroic members of Ensemble. This is tough news, but it doesn’t change what you’ve done. Who you are. I believe in you buddy.”  
  
“Me too! You got this Konket-uh, Kon...Ket...su!” said a voice beside us.  
  
Half the Thinkers in the room turned around, firearms raised. Imp stood there, her hands up in the air and she groaned. Her costume was ragged, a large blast mark prominent on the center of her chest, which she guarded gingerly with one arm.  
  
“I told you guys I was coming! How is this still an issue? Come on, we even have a light for that!”  
  
It was true, we did have a specific blinker on the consoles alerting Thinkers if Imp was currently in the room and not to shoot if someone appeared out of thin air. The problem was that when Imp disappeared, so did memory of things related to her. Most of the Thinkers had worked out individual ways to cope, since our current system was rather useless. To be fair, it had been low priority to fix.  
  
Konketsu was shaking like a leaf still, murmuring something quietly to himself that even I couldn’t hear.  
  
“You’re not a monster Konketsu. For some reason or another you didn’t end up like Junketsu. You’re different,” I reassured.  
  
Konketsu looked away from all of us, eyes looking at a far away point on the wall. “Am I? Am I an alien parasite that’s broken and forgotten its purpose? Am I some sort of hybrid made by Bonesaw? I...I don’t know what I am anymore Taylor.”  
  
Konketsu writhed and pulled away from me, ripping himself off of me as I shouted at him, “Hey! Wait!”  
  
I grabbed at him, but the cloth slipped through my fingers, all at once too many parts of him trying to escape. He jumped off of me and hopped down, throwing himself across the room. I knew he wouldn’t be able to get far before the blood that fueled him ran low, but he could still get away. Short of manhandling him I had the feeling I couldn’t stop him. Our friendship had never been in doubt, but I felt like if I stopped him here and now, something intangible would be changed forever and for the worse.  
  
I stood there and watched as he hopped out the door, disappearing into the hallway. The air had a slight chill to it and I sighed long and low. Tattletale whistled to one of the lower ranked staff, beckoning them over.  
  
“Go get our commander a uniform instead of staring you dolt,” she snapped out.  
  
I realized I was left in my underwear in the middle of the command center. It had been years since I had something so embarrassing happen, but I had long since run out of embarrassment. I took a seat and sighed, having more pressing issues to address than my current state of undress. What I really needed at the moment was a cup of tea.  
  
Tattletale smiled nervously and wheeled herself around to face me.  
  
“Well, that could’ve gone better. I guess the encouragement didn’t get through to him?”  
  
I shook my head, “I think it did, but that makes it worse in a way. He knows he’s good, but he doesn’t know what he is that allows him to be good. You just gave him an identity crisis when we’re two minutes past midnight on the doomsday clock Tattletale. I hope, for your sake, that you’ve got something for me.”  
  
I looked at her, my profound unhappiness at the current situation being all I had to direct at her. She may have had her reasons and they may have even been good ones, but I wanted her to know she had fucked up.  
  
She put her hand up a little defensively, “Hey, I didn’t know it would set him off. It’s kindof hard to read an outfit’s body language, especially when we can’t even hear him. Maybe some soul searching will be good for him. Might as well figure himself out before Scion wipes us all out.”  
  
“We didn’t mean any harm, but I think he had a right to know what we know. It is his life? Species? Race? Whatever you want to call it, it’s still his. We shouldn’t keep secrets like that from him,” Hunch added.  
  
I leaned forward, resting my chin on my hand, “While I’m glad you agree on not being paternalistic to him, do you think you could’ve picked a time when we’re not being attacked by the largest existential threat in history?”  
  
They both winced as my voice rose towards the end. I was losing my cool, but right now I didn’t want it. I was forced off the battlefield, I had just lost my closest friend, I was even more powerless than before, and we were running out of time.  
  
I pointed at the two of them, “So again, do you have anything we can use from this revelation?”  
  
Tattletale looked properly chastised, though Hunch seemed to be hiding behind her to let her take the heat.  
  
“Alright, alright, give me a minute,” Tattletale said, breathing deeply. “We know life fibers work similar to the entity, maybe not as powerful, but same concept. They’ve also been crippled by Scion, you’re not going to be able to out slug him with your power. So what does that leave us with?”  
  
“Life fibers that’ve been modified,” Hunch filled in.  
  
“Exactly. What do we have? We have Parian’s work, she’s extended life fibers beyond what we had when we started. And Bonesaw’s-there we go, that’d do it! Bonesaw made that life fiber core to perpetuate making more life fibers, right?”  
  
I made a rolling gesture with my hand for her to get on with it.  
  
“That thing pumps out life fibers, but not for free. Even her tinkertech abominations have to follow some rules. What if we, I don’t know, figured out how to remove the limitations on it? Let it consume everything in order to replicate and spit out life fibers? It’s a parasite on the scale of Scion, maybe it would work like a parasite does for us. Cripple him, eat away from the inside,” Tattletale proposed, massaging her temple as she winced.  
  
Hunch frowned, “How do we keep it from eating everything else? Last thing we need is to replace a Scion-sized threat with another one that also can self replicate.”  
  
In that instant I knew what Tattletale was going for. I gave a small, bitter chuckle as she grinned.  
  
She answered Hunch, “Tailor project seven.”  
  
Hunch paused. “Shit. It might just work. But what if it breaks out?”  
  
Tattletale pointed to me, “I’m hoping our dear commander here can handle that if it does. Hopefully, we won’t even have to deal with that.”  
  
“It’s crazy...but I don’t see another way.” He turned towards me, biting his lip hesitantly. “Ichor, do we have permission to proceed?”  
  
I gave a wave of dismissal, “Get on with it. We don’t have much time.”  
  
I couldn’t help but notice how many times over the last few days I had given orders that very well could end the world if they went wrong. Or how quickly it had become normal. I hoped that if we got through this, I’d never have to acclimate to it again.  
  
Tattletale gave me a nod and started to wheel her chair around towards her console. Hunch ran off to his own console, picking the headset up and starting to convey command codes. He’d be overriding several levels of clearance and planning, but we had to grab onto anything that looked liked it had a chance. I spotted the aide from earlier duck back into the room, holding one of our staple uniforms. The monotone gray suit, roughly in professional style, that many of our non-powered personnel wore.  
  
She looked stressed, sweat sheening her brow, “Sorry! The hallway down to the supply center is blocked with debris.”  
  
I shrugged it off, taking the outheld uniform and sliding it on. “You did good, it’s dangerous out there.”  
  
I didn’t have much more to say, my inspiratory words were starting to feel hollow. Still, the reinforcement did its job. She returned to assisting the others and I was clothed once more. The plain grey uniform felt foreign on me, Konketsu was my second skin usually. But it would protect me a little and lent me some modesty. Bonesaw’s modifications and the uniform together would lend me a small portion of the Brute rating I was normally afforded. Not enough to risk Scion’s attention, but maybe enough to survive being close by.  
  
I needed to do two things for this plan to work. First was getting to Parian.  
  
Then, I had to find Konketsu.  
  
  


\---

  
  
The base was in worse shape than I had thought. The path to Parian’s workshop was entirely collapsed, forcing me to go a long and circuitous route. That route also had blocked off areas, making my detour even longer. It was a miracle the structure was still standing, and a testament to the engineering that had gone into it.  
  
A shame that the Tailor project that was our base was never to be deployed. The idea of making a city-sized mech to fight the Endbringers head on had been widely panned as a waste of funding. The project had been approved under a minimal budget, under the logic that making our base of operations more fortified wouldn’t hurt at least. It had never gotten far enough to be close to a workable mech, but the fortification work was at least proving our budget hadn’t been entirely wasted. A giant mech would’ve been useless against an opponent like Scion anyway.  
  
If I had had Konketsu I could’ve powered through some of the rubble, but I was limited in what I could do in a standard uniform. Enhanced strength or not, a few hundred feet of collapsed concrete was a pretty significant barrier. I passed by windows, most of them empty of glass by now, the shockwaves from the battle having shattered most of them almost an hour ago.  
  
As I ran down the hall, I could see the telltale signs of Eidolon and Glaistig Uaine still battling Scion. A contingent of capes with some sort of duplication power was assisting them, making visual copies of heroes that swarmed the golden man. It was a disturbing sight as golden light tore them apart, bloody viscera flying everywhere. Copies or not, they left all too real reminders of death when he tore them apart.  
  
Dragon had mobilized one of her mechs, as a supportive fire of missiles rained onto the battlefield from on high. Last status report had indicated she was low on mobile suits, I had to wonder just how much she was risking by sending this one out. Disposable combatants were useful for keeping casualties low, but I was worried for her. She had taken a lot of damage over the last few days. Even she wasn’t immortal. Enough hits would grind even her systems into ash.  
  
A cape being held by one of the Faerie Queen’s ghosts drew lines in the air, connecting different capes. The midpoint of those lines held some sort of power that the cape was using to fire at Scion, bypassing his defense for the moment. He dove for her, and I had to stop myself from jumping out the window to try and intercept him. Eidolon threw a barrier in his way that turned him aside and the two began to pummel him in tandem.  
  
I turned a corner and lost my view of the battle, the darkened hallway ahead lead down to the floor Parian’s workshop was on. I was finally getting close.  
  
The lights had gone out, whether due to the bulbs shattering or the electricity to this section being cut I couldn’t know. As I took the stairs down my stomach sank. The bottom of the staircase was covered up to almost the ceiling in rubble. I had come all this way around because the only other staircase to her section was collapsed. If both were filled in, there was no way to her workshop. Limited entrances had been good for security, but poor for evacuation.  
  
Parian was trapped, and our plan with her.  
  
I looked at the rubble blocking where staircase met hallway. There was too much for me to know if brute forcing my way in would work. If it took me an hour to dig her out, we’d all be dead before I was halfway through.  
  
There was a small gap at the top, where the rubble didn’t quite meet the ceiling. _If it has a chance of working, I have to try._ Quickly I climbed my way up the unstable pile of concrete and rebar. I had to get down on my stomach, feeling the jagged edges of torn concrete pull at the uniform. It was only ten percent life fibers, a bit stronger than normal fabric, but I wasn't sure it would be enough to survive this.  
_  
At least if I get tetanus I won’t be around long enough for it to be an issue._  
  
I crawled along slowly, dragging myself forward through the small gap with my arms. There was barely enough room to fit my shoulders through, having to wiggle and strain to fit. I could taste the staleness in the air, the dust that threatened to choke me if I were to stay. I had to hope that there was an opening on the other side, I didn’t think I could easily back out.  
  
A tendril of blood snaked forward, trying to spread around the debris and probe the way. If I could at least tell how far it went, I would have a better idea of what I was doing. Blood pushed forward, I could feel as it flowed around the debris. It took a distressing amount of distance before I stopped running into debris, feeling open air. A solid thirteen feet or so. There was nothing for it though, I had to move forward.  
  
Crawling over broken concrete was arduous and slow, the constant shifting of small debris made me nervous that it was ready to collapse in on me. Probably not enough to kill me, but being trapped in the dark underneath tons of rubble was worse in many ways. Sharp corners of twisted and torn rebar poked at me, tearing the uniform and skin where I couldn’t avoid squeezing past them. Pain was an old friend by now. The sharp cuts pushed to the back of my mind as I made slow work through. Blood buffered around me, pushing the debris little by little to widen the gaps where I could.  
  
I could feel the end approaching, I was within a few feet of the end. I couldn’t see any light coming through, the other end of the tunnel must’ve lost power as well. The gap ahead of me was smaller though, barely a fist’s width in size. There was no way I was fitting through that. I’d have to try shifting some of the debris, at the risk of bringing down an even bigger pile on myself. Blood flowed out, pushing the small bits aside and slowly widening the gap. One large piece of concrete was taking up one side, too large for my blood to merely push aside.  
_  
Shit, that looks like it’s weight bearing._  
  
It was large and I could see debris piled on top, thru a collapsed section of ceiling. The end of a landslide it seemed. The other half of the gap was too small still. I looked to the other side, a collection of fine rubble that was almost as difficult to move as one big piece. So crushed together that it might as well have been one giant block. Clearly there was a lot of weight on top of that as well.  
  
With a quick thought my blood speed up and started to rapidly swirl against the surface of the concrete. _ It might be weight bearing, but if I can shave a bit off the sides…_ It wasn’t going to be a fast process, however. I was basically making a power washer with my blood. Damn if it wasn’t working though, the already beaten concrete was being worn away steadily. I tried the same on the other side, with less success but still managing to make the gap ever so slightly bigger. After a few minutes I had to call it. Any further would make me antsy about something breaking. The gap was small, but it might be just big enough.  
  
Blood flowed over me and the edges. Slippery things moved more easily, and I was going to need it to get through. My head came out into fresher air and I squeezed my shoulders together, feeling them strain against the gap. I heaved and popped out, my arms free to pull myself out of the rubble finally. I shimmied down the rubble and stretched in relief at having gotten out. That was definitely not an experience I wanted to repeat.  
  
The door to Parian’s workshop was straight ahead on my left. Walking up, it was clear that the auxiliary power was still working, as the security panel was on and functional. I keyed in my access code and the door cracked open, sliding apart for me. Inside the lights were still on, the large tinkertech filled workspace looked to be intact. Tools were strewn everywhere across the large tables that held rolls upon rolls of life fibers. At the far end of the spacious room was a glass wall that looked upon the life fiber core we had retrieved from Bonesaw’s lab.  
  
Parian stood in the middle, staring at me.  
  
“I-Ichor? Are you ok? How’d you get through?” She asked, shocked.  
  
I looked down at myself after seeing her stunned look. _Ah, that’d explain it._ The uniform was torn all over and I was covered head to toe in blood. The latter wasn’t entirely uncommon given my powers, but I certainly looked like a mess.  
  
I gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. There’s a small gap in the rubble, not really visible from this side. Widened it a little. You should be able to make it through.”  
  
Parian sagged a little, looking relieved. “Oh, that’s good. I was getting a little worried I’d be stuck down here. I don’t really have much food, just tea so…”  
  
She gave a helpless little shrug. It made sense, her powers weren’t great for digging herself out and if Scion killed most of us then it could be weeks or even months before anyone even thought to look down here for survivors. She probably could do something with all the life fibers to get out, but it would’ve been a scary prospect, especially for a non-combatant like she was.  
  
I started to walk, headed for the glass wall on the other side. “Unfortunately I’m not just here to dig you out. Scion’s still up there, and we have a new plan that requires your help.”  
  
I couldn’t see the grimace behind the porcelain mask but it was palpable. She knew the same as I did that Scion being here this long meant most of our plans had failed then.  
  
“What can I do?” She asked.  
  
Pointing to the life fiber core I answered, “Can you undo the safeties on it? All of them.”  
  
She went stockstill, voice trembling, “I can, but...are you sure? The damage it would cause…”  
  
My mouth was set in a line, trying not to grimace. “I know.” My hand ran through my hair, filthy and tangled. “Trust me, I know. We’re out of options. He’s not going down. We tried to kill him in ways that wouldn’t wreck Bet, but we’re down to killing him by any means necessary.”  
  
Parian took a moment, slowly nodding. “I see. I can do it, but how are you going to point it at him?”  
  
I pointed up to the ceiling, “Tailor Project Seven. If we can time the release, we use that to direct it. It’ll have to be precise, but it should work.”  
  
A longer pause followed and I began to worry. I knew Parian wasn’t one of our toughest or most enduring capes, but she wasn’t weak either. What was her hold-up with the plan then?  
  
“Okay. I’ll do it,” she said, in a flat voice. Not flat, I realized. Resigned.  
  
I tilted my head. “You think something’s wrong with it?”  
  
She shook her head, “No, no it’s not that. It should work, I think. I don’t know the details on project seven, but if you have a means…”  
  
“What is it then?”  
  
She sighed and then looked me in the eye, “Thank you. When I joined Ensemble, I wasn’t sure it would ever be my home. It still isn’t, to be honest. But you gave me a place and something meaningful to do. Even if it’s not what I dreamed of doing, I learned a lot. Grew a lot. That’s worth more than people give it credit.”  
  
That all too familiar sinking feeling hit me again, “Parian-”  
  
She shook her head again, “It has to be done by hand mostly Ichor. The safeties weren’t designed to be removed. Even if the timing is almost perfect, being that close...I won’t be making it out of this, I don’t think.”  
  
I swallowed down my feelings, pushing them to the back of my brain. I knew the score, knew what had to be done. All of humanity was at risk. I had to hold onto that. I wished for a second I could forget what we were up against, be able to have that selfish moment where I considered failure to save my friends. But I couldn’t, not even for a second. I knew, inherently, after fighting Scion that it wasn’t even a fanciful dream.  
  
My hand reached out, clasping her shoulder. “Thank you. And I’m sorry.”  
  
She put her hand on mine and said sadly, “As long as internal comms keep working down here, I should be able to get it done. If not...I’ll assume the worst and proceed anyway.”  
  
“I’ll see if Leap or Strider are still alive. We might be able to pull you out.”  
  
“Ok,” she said flatly. “You should get going. It won’t be easy to get back out and there’s not much time.”  
  
I hated it, but she was right. Crawling through rubble again was going to be a long and painful process. Even if the gap was wider now, it was still all too tight and claustrophobic. I had to get out before the project deployed though. I had to find Konketsu. Every part hinged on every other part, and I needed him to keep my part together. Scion had to be pinned down, and while we couldn’t hurt him, we could hold him down for a few seconds. Long enough for them to get a clean shot.  
  
As I turned around to leave I pretended not see the moistness seeping out from underneath the porcelain mask.  
  
  


\---

  
  
I dusted myself off as I ran. Climbing through the rubble once again hadn’t been any better than the first time. The shaking that had started when I was halfway through had only made it worse in fact. Thankfully nothing had collapsed directly on me, but whatever was going on outside was clearly getting ramping up. I didn’t know how much structural integrity the top levels of the base had left, but I was assuming not a whole lot. The fine shower of concrete dust I was getting with each shake of the building didn’t convince me otherwise.  
  
I rushed through the halls, trying to think of where Konketsu would’ve gone. He would want to be alone, but half the base was evacuated, giving him plenty of options. He probably didn’t go far, without my blood he’d eventually lose most of his energy and go dormant. So it was just a matter of methodically searching the base around the command center. Easier said than done when half the building was collapsed or opened up like a gaping wound. The less that was said about the occasional body found along the way, the better.  
  
I turned another corner and saw a figure kneeling on the ground halfway down the hall. Someone injured or resting? It was odd to separate from their team, but in the chaos it wouldn’t be unusual. Or maybe that was what was left of their team.  
  
“Hey! You okay?” I called out, jogging down the hall.  
  
The figure rose and half turned, an annoyingly familiar face shifting from surprise to seething.  
  
“Fine, what do you want Ichor?” Amy replied impatiently.  
  
Being closer showed she was still wearing Junketsu, though she hadn’t transformed. If she wasn’t fighting, I was going to take it from her here and now. My gaze stopped, marking blood on the edge of her sleeves. Perhaps she had been fighting then.  
  
“Amy. I don’t have time for you. Have you seen Konketsu?” I had less patience for her than she had for me.  
  
She turned completely, holding Konketsu’s limp form draped over her arm. “We were just talking, but he ran out of energy.”  
  
My stance widened, hands balling into fists. Amy had Konketsu and I was unarmed. If she used Junketsu against me while I was stretched this thin, she might actually be able to take me down. Fighting Scion had burnt through a lot of my energy. Everyone was busy fending him off and our security systems were in chaos. She’d never have a better window.  
  
“What did you do to him?” I hissed.  
  
She scowled, but held a hand up. “Nothing, we just talked. I’m not stupid, Ichor. I know what the deal is. Taking you down while Scion is still out there is stupid. Konketsu needed someone to talk to and that someone clearly wasn’t you.”  
  
“And what could you offer him?” I spat.  
  
Amy frowned slightly, “I know what it’s like to think that being a monster is in your nature. That you’ll end up hurt everyone around you. Hell, I got my freedom from Bonesaw messing with me too.” The scowl returned to her face. “I don’t like you and you don’t like me, but I know when someone needs a few reassurances. I didn’t come here to torture your friend, I came here to tell him he’s not a monster. That no matter what he is or where he comes from, the only thing that makes him anything is himself. So spare me the holier than thou bullshit and take your friend back. He needs you, and Ensemble needs both of you or we’re all gonna die.”  
  
She tossed Konketsu at me in a gentle motion and I caught him, feeding tendrils of blood into him. He slowly shuffled off the heavy sleep of the emotionally troubled and blinked awake.  
  
“Taylor? I’m sorry, I-”  
  
I hugged him against my chest.  
  
“It’s fine Konketsu. There’s nothing to apologize for.”  
  
He melted into the hug and hummed, “Ah.”  
  
Letting go, I held him up in front of me. “Are you ok to come back?”  
  
He nodded. “Yeah. Talking with Amy was surprisingly helpful.”  
  
“Surprising that talking with the person who understands emotional trauma instead of concentrating it into world domination helps. Who’d’ve thunk?” Amy said with a roll of her eyes.  
  
I guffawed, “I didn’t try to conquer the world.”  
  
She quirked an eyebrow. “No? You just overthrew the biggest parahuman organization on the planet, consolidated power, and spread your personal tinkertech across a continent for other reasons?”  
  
“I can’t expect someone like you to see the big picture,” I snorted in reply, remembering why I usually sent Aegis to trounce Amy when she got in our way.  
  
“I oughta punch that arrogance right off your face,” Amy growled.  
  
Konketsu held his sleeves out, “Please you two, we should be fighting Scion.”  
  
“You’re right, but are you okay to go back out there?” I asked him.  
  
“I feel better now. It’s not something I’ve entirely come to terms with, but Amy helped me see that I don’t have to let it define me,” he replied somberly.  
  
Amy spoke up, “Well I’m glad I could help. Ichor may be a massive bitch, but you’re not half bad.”  
  
I rolled my eyes this time, “If you’re done being petty, are you going to help fight? Because if not, we need you healing. There’s no third option.”  
  
Amy closed the distance between us, straightening her posture. “I’ll help. Not going to be anyone left to heal if I don’t.”  
  
“Good, try not to die. Aegis might get sad if he loses his sparring partner,” I retorted, slipping the shredded remains of the uniform off and pulling Konketsu on. Everything felt just a bit better knowing he was back. I felt safer, stronger with him by my side. Partly because I was.  
  
I started to move, turning my back on Amy and assuming she would follow. I didn’t really have the time nor energy to care more about what she did. She had garnered some small amount of respect by helping Konketsu, but that was it. My hand reached up for the earpiece.  
  
“Hunch, I’ve got my end handled. How’re we doing?”  
  
The voice crackled over the normally crystal clear comms, “Plan’s still a go. We need about-hzzzt- ten, maybe fifteen minutes. Can you-brzzzt- keep Scion close by that long?”  
  
There wasn’t usually interference on our lines. I furrowed my brow, wishing I had more information on what was going on.  
  
“Can do. I’ve picked up Amy, she’ll assist. I’m going to find an exit and engage, give me an update on the situation,” I replied.  
  
Hunch took a moment to reply, “Right, transferring you to Page.”  
  
The crackling ended as I heard a click, a young voice taking over, “This is Page, the rundown is as follows-”  
  
The name was familiar but I was having trouble placing it at the moment. _Right, he’s the new Thinker we picked up last month. Networker’s understudy._ The boy had only recently gotten his powers and was still in training, the moniker had fit both his power and his status.  
  
“Scion is currently engaged with Aegis, Vista, Chevalier, and Eidolon. Currently there are twenty two cape teams still on active duty, cycling out of the fight. Casualties are at fifty-five percent. Superstructure damage to Brockton Bay is critical, collapse expected within the next twenty-four hours. Thinker support capacity is overloaded, most staff are reaching their limits.”  
  
That certainly explained why Page was the one speaking to me. Having our equivalent to a Ward in active duty relaying mission critical information was breaching at least five Ensemble protocols. Not that anyone would write someone up given the circumstances.  
  
“Thank you Page. Status on Tailor Seven?” I asked, looking around for the fastest route outside. _A hole should be in the next hallway over if I remember correctly._  
  
“Ten to fifteen minutes to deploy. Scion needs to be within a few hundred feet of the facility, preferably still, for there to be a good shot. With the current damage to the city the Tinkers are asking that you aim him away from the city. There’s some worries about more fighting causing a, uh, domino effect,” he relayed back to me in almost perfect calm. _A side effect of using his power perhaps?_  
  
I grimaced at the requirements. “Got it. Also, Parian won’t be able to evac and her lab is blocked by rubble, do we have Strider or Leap still to get her out?”  
  
“Negative, both are MIA.”  
  
I sighed sadly. “Okay, see if you can’t divert someone to pull her out of there. He’ll be here, signal me when you need him still.”  
  
“Roger that, good luck Ichor.” His voice inflected up at the end, some personality seeping back in.  
  
I took the turn and saw the massive hole that had before stymied my progress. Sunlight streamed in and I rushed to look outside. As Page had said, Scion was engaged. Chevalier had lost his damaged sword, instead hanging back with Vista. A shot from Scion went wide and suddenly turned, going for Vista only to hit Chevalier. He stumbled but stayed upright. Ah, he was tanking for her then. He had lost his offensive capabilities, but he could still protect her while she ran circles around Scion.  
  
Vista was looking worse for the wear as well. She had taken a bad hit earlier and it didn’t look like she had seen a healer. No, knowing her she had just grit her teeth and dragged herself back out. Aegis and Eidolon were in the fore, trading blows with Scion and dodging his counters. I was impressed they had held him so long, even the minute it took me to find the exit was an eternity against Scion. Eidolon had been in and out of the fight since I left, which was probably the longest any combatant had directly engaged him. Our teams cycled out and even still we were losing half the capes we threw against him.  
  
Frankly, fifteen minutes was a tall order, but it seemed Eidolon was holding and maybe we could continue that. A flash of light next to me signalled Amy transforming and I followed suit.  
  
“Ready?” I asked, eyes focused on the fight.  
  
“Ready,” she said, dead serious instead of insulting me for once.  
  
We launched out of the broken hallway, hurtling across the ruined remains of the courtyard. The blood from earlier was crushed or buried under rubble. A thin gold dust coated the ground ominously, lending a strange glow to the arena. Most of the building surrounding the courtyard was collapsed or gone, only a few small sections intact. I noted with distaste that at least a few of the Tinker workshops were definitely gone. Had to hope that didn’t delay our efforts.  
  
I could see hints of the other cape teams hiding out in the distance. They weren’t running away, but they knew that unless it was their turn the best they could do was survive. I had to wonder how many teams we had left were just the merged remains of the survivors of the earlier fight. Depressingly, probably all of them.  
  
Scion noted our coming before the other two did, erecting a golden wall in our way. I juked down, squeezing underneath it. Anyone else and I might’ve been that I could break through it, but with Scion it could just be a power that made unbreakable walls or something more sinister. I wouldn’t know until I slammed into it and that wasn’t a trap I wanted to spring.  
  
Scion spun in the air, sliding between a green disc and Aegis’ fist gracefully. He turned the motion into a right cross, sending Aegis reeling from the force. Aegis was towering above him, but unable to get in a hit. Scion disappeared and I spun, feeling the air rush past as a golden fist cleared the air where my head had been. I pushed off a nearby piece of rubble and kicked out, catching the golden man in the stomach. I could feel the extra kick, goddamn Dennis, compared to before. Not all that much, but it felt like when I was at peak form. Small to him maybe, but it might be enough to keep me alive.  
  
Amy swung in the air behind him and he ducked out of the way, a fist swinging back to nearly crush her chest. Her form was rough, but she had almost enough speed to keep up with me. I let out a whistle, dodging a beam of light and throwing a splash of blood in reply. Eidolon summoned a small red orb that rapidly split into a swarm of orbs, streaming down almost like a beam at Scion. The first few to pop against him ate the flesh away in bubble sized bites, before the rest popped uselessly against him.  
  
I moved forward, aiming a punch at his face only to go for a kick aimed at his knees. My foot crunched its way through his knees and he fell forward into my waiting second fist. An explosion of gold knocked me back, staggering to catch my footing. Amy had taken the initiative, pummeling him with almost animalistic fury. Most of her punches were useless, but he was distracted for a moment. I stepped back in and kicked out hard, my foot hitting his flesh like I had punched Alexandria.  
  
He could counter anything we did, but we finally had an answer to that. Eidolon was floating above, Glaistig Uaine had rejoined him and one of her ghosts held him aloft. He shouted something and Scion’s skin broke and cracked, falling to pieces around him. Eidolon could counter anything, given a bit of time to adjust his powers. And if Scion’s counters were countered in turn by Eidolon, that gave us an opening.  
  
I felt my shin crash into Scion’s back, breaking him, as Amy resumed her assault from the other side. He tried to dodge, but Eidolon was doing something to prevent him from just phasing out, erasing any part of him that got past us. The ground around us stretched out, Vista isolating us from the rest of the battleground. With one of us on each side and Eidolon pinning him down, he was trapped. Glaistig Uaine summoned a ghost that erected a dome around us that seemed to being sapping energy from him. With each second, we built a firmer cage to contain him. A few capes were joining us, peeling out from their cover to lend their aid in containing him. We might not kill him, but we were buying good time with each second he wasn’t doing damage to us.  
  
I slammed a fist into his face and saw something change there. The bored, yet slightly interested expression was getting angry again. In an instant, everything shifted. Scion ducked between both of our blows, moving with perfect grace. A boot snapped out, sliding through my guard and hitting me in the chin. In the same moment an elbow caught Amy in the chest, sending her reeling. I worked my jaw, feeling the pain in my neck at what was almost certainly a killing blow for most capes.  
  
Scion was floating up in the air, headed for Eidolon. The barriers around us broken already. The space in front of him warped and twisted, Vista funneling Aegis into his path. He tore past Aegis effortlessly, a sickening crunch accompanying a grapple that I suspected had broken Aegis’ arm. I kicked off the ground to follow. I recognized this power. The one from before. Eidolon would need help, I knew it.  
  
_Stop him at any cost._  
  
Scion stopped in front of Eidolon. His mouth moved and I urged Konketsu to move faster. Time had slowed to a halt, everything happening at a crawl. I saw Scion speak and Eidolon began to fall. Glaistig Uaine’s ghost had dropped him. For just a moment, Eidolon was distracted as he flailed in surprise, realizing he had been let go.  
  
That moment was all it took for a golden beam of light to cut through him.  
  
Scion turned and Glaistig Uaine turned with him, her ghosts arrayed behind her like a deadly entourage.  
  
I heard Amy besides me, slowing to a halt as she muttered,  
  
“Oh_ crap_.”  
  
  



	37. Interlude 12: Glaistig Uaine

### Interlude 12: Glaistig Uaine

  
  
“There is another.”  
  
The words rang in her head and she let the High Priest fall. So that was it then. There would be no second stage, no intermission before the next act. Trying to get him back to sleep was pointless. It was early, out of order. Her part wasn’t prepared, yet she had what she needed to perform. If she must.  
  
As natural as breathing she collected up his ghost, adding it to her faerie host. The strongest by far, it was rare to collect a noble spirit. They were supposed to continue, to work until the end of the performance. His had fallen out of its role, to an unprepared understudy and thus suffered. It was something she had tolerated. Perhaps he could be made to learn, to become worthy of it. It was why she had bothered to save him when he had woken the slumbering director.  
  
There had been a chance then, to get him back to sleep. Salvage the situation, retrain the High Priest, and continue as before. She was worried about him, the director, the audience, the all in one. He was breaking the cycle even further, pursuing an ephemeral pleasure because he had nothing but grief for so long. The need for a challenge, for something which pertained to his role. To fight, as a warrior, and to grapple with death and win. But such a pleasure was rare indeed for a being like him and his hopeful search had turned to scorned frustration and from there to seemingly heedless destruction.  
  
But he had spoken and she knew that it was untrue. No longer was the destruction heedless. No longer did she worry that he would destroy the parts, leaving nothing but a broken husk on a dying world unable to repair itself. It was a shame. The High Priest had come so far in such a short time too, finally talking to his faerie instead of scorning it. Even she would have had trouble with such as him, they were equals in many ways.  
  
It was why she let him go.  
  
There was another.  
  
Oh, how the words soothed the troubles that had stirred her to action. She could fulfill her role. It was early, but she would not disappoint. So with a wave of her hand, her ghostly entourage took to the sky. The High Priest standing prominent among the other two. She looked down and saw the girl below, the parasite. Frozen in a moment of hesitation at seeing the hero fall. To leave her for last, for the climactic final action or to play the strategist, decapitating the snake?  
  
He raised a hand and a golden beam scythed down at her, a narrow miss that banished two capes further afield.  
  
The strategist it was then. He was clearly in no mood for theatrics anymore.  
  
The ghosts spread out, forming a triangle around her. She would let the faeries follow their whims, more suitable at using their own powers than she. She was the strategist, not the administrator. The parasite was not a noble, despite its success. A child, crippled, was the image that came to her mind. Taken not because it was suspected to be useful so much as to prevent competition. His kind left trails so others would not follow, a loose cooperation of sorts. The parasite had not been of their kin and would heed no warnings. Best to take it then, nullify the threat. She herself had wondered if it might not grow, be able to take over parts of the cycle in patchwork manner. The girl was supposedly clever, though her faerie was less inclined towards such with how it had manifested this cycle. A hope, a backup plan that was no longer necessary.  
  
She moved faster than the Faerie Queen could follow unaided, darting between her ghosts. She had no counters for the esoteric though and the High Priest caught her in a trap that no physical strength could spring. He disappeared and she felt his faerie return to her well, not gone as were the ones that Scion had destroyed, but weak. He would need time to recovery. A boy in white clocks was where the High Priest had been. One of her servants.  
  
The other three had appeared.  
  
A battle of pawns then, was it?  
  
A playful smile flitted across her visage. Perhaps she would be allowed some theatrics after all.  
  
Her faerie engaged, hurling spells and slinging space at the servants. Unlike the parasite, her hosts had the faerie necessary to deal with the strange and unseen. The small one, hard like diamond beneath the surface, warped the space around all of them, directing her ghosts’ attacks away. The one with clocks, the time-stopper, crossed the space between them in a few steps. His hand reached out and she sensed his hesitation. Which of their touch based powers would win out, he was wondering.  
  
She already knew the answer.  
  
Her ghost, one with the power over space not dissimilar to the girls, pulled her away just before he could touch her. It would’ve been embarrassing to have been out of the fight for a few minutes like that. Two consciously controlled touch based powers did not a happy interaction make. In the end, it would’ve come down to speed and loathe as she was to admit it, those suits they wore gave them superior speed.  
  
She felt one of her ghosts return to her. Ah, the large brute had smashed her poor servant into dust despite only one working arm. A regenerator, durable, but not special. She could see what drove him was clad in steel, a will to protect that allowed him to be so much more than a simple shield of flesh and bone.  
  
Resummoning her faerie cohort was simple, and they resumed the attack, pressing the servants back. The Auric Parasite herself was attacking Scion in tandem with her lesser, the Shaper turned...something. An incomplete transition, a rejection of her faerie. It would have been interesting to follow, had there been time for such indulgences. The gall of the parasite to turn her back on the Faerie Queen though, that could not go unnoticed.  
  
Her ghost warped the space around them again, bringing her close to the parasite. A simple touch would suffice. Her hand reached out, the space between bridged by her servant. The parasite would serve as an excellent demoralizer once she was added to her host.  
  
Pain.  
  
Pain flared in her arm, a wholly unexpected sensation. She tried to reflexively pull her hand back and found she couldn’t. The warped space she had reached through was bent in sharp, impossible angles. Her fingers cracked and popped as the folded space fought against itself, tearing apart the caught limb in its struggle. Blood seeped out at odd angles, dripping in every direction until gravity re-exerted itself. She banished the space warper, summoning a small boy. She was not human, but the loss of a limb would be a great handicap.  
  
As the ghost looped her back, her arm returned to her whole and unblemished. She looked across the field of battle and saw the small space warper of the parasite’s brood, face contorted with effort and streaming sweat. Ah, it made sense now. The girl was normally limited from pulling apart flesh, but when her faerie had mixed with the servants, all had gone awry. A dangerous combination and one that limited her from several tricks. A new target then.  
  
She directed the time-looper toward her, catching her in a loop almost instantaneously.  
  
It felt anti-climatic, almost like cheating, but she had learned through pain that underestimating the parasite’s chosen few was poor strategy. The big players had entered the field and the minor actors needed to be collected and accounted for. It was her own fault for not staying true to her own word and doing away with the theatrics.  
  
Gray Boy, as he had been called in life, was one such tool in her arsenal. Him, the High Priest, and others were above the powers that most faerie could bring to bear. This was her role, her glory. She would help him restart the broken cycle, find the other that he must have heard coming. All would return to its rightful place.  
  
She gestured towards the boy with clocks, his power the next that threatened her efficacy.  
  
Her hand would not move. She twitched.  
  
Why would her hand not move?  
  
Nothing in her moved. She was thinking, yes, yet stuck. How? Who?  
  
She willed a ghost into existence that could fix this, one that shunted effects elsewhere. He did not appear.  
  
She raged against this interloper. Who had** dared** turn her, her of all the players on this stage, into a puppet?  
  
Her head would not turn to look, but she could see the parasite staring at her with eyes of hatred.  
  
And she knew.  
  



	38. Chapter 38

### Chapter 25: Goodbye Again

I stared as Eidolon fell. The last of the Triumvirate was gone. Some had said it was the end of an era when I had taken Alexandria down. If you asked me, it was the second that Eidolon fell. He was the last, and the strongest by far. Without Eidolon there would never have been a Triumvirate.

Golden light filled my vision and I weaved, seeing Amy do the same. We twisted through the sky, buzzing past Scion as we danced between his shots. A punch here, a kick there. Just because Eidolon had fallen didn’t mean we had to. The fight had to go on. The Faerie Queen’s ghosts tried to intercept us, but they were too slow.

Suddenly I was stuck, it was like space had been folded up around me and I was in a box. A small bubble of panic rose in my as I saw the ghost of Eidolon hovering above me. His translucent cowl hiding shadowed features, all filled with an unearthly green glow.

As suddenly as I had been trapped, I was free. Clockblocker was giving a smart salute from where Eidolon’s ghost had been. _ Heh, I should’ve known they’d save me more than once today. _ My heart had sunk seeing Eidolon die, but seeing my Elite Four, my Wards, had my back helped it raise a little bit up again. I gave him a nod in return and kicked off, headed back for Scion. I could count on them to handle Glaistig Uaine. I wasn’t sure if they could count on me for Scion.

Amy and I fell into a rhythm, buzzing past Scion and getting in glancing blows. A cape in red and gold fired some sort of tinkertech gun at him, while another raised ghostly walls, providing cover for those down below. He wasn’t contained as before, but we just had to hold for a few more minutes. Each shot of golden light was accompanied by the dread that it would hit another cape, leave us one fewer for the next minute of fighting. We were buying seconds with lives.

Golden light twisted, taking a sudden right turn for me and the world spun as someone collided into me bodily, golden light burning against them as they shoved me out of the way. We tumbled through the sky, hitting ruined concrete with a thud. I looked up to see Amy sprawled across me, her back burned and sloughing from where the light had hit it.

She looked up weakly, “Almost got yourself killed, idiot.”

I shimmied out from underneath her, setting her down gently as I did. “Why?”

She snorted, “Because we can still beat him. ‘Sides, can’t beat you if you’re dead.”

I looked over her. The damage was bad. Beyond bad. “You can’t heal yourself, we need to get you to the medics.”

She laughed roughly, “They can’t do anything for me. I’ve healed enough to know.”

Blood flowed from my veins, seeping out and wrapping around her. “Here, use my blood. Fix yourself somehow.”

Her bruised eyes twinkled with interest, “Huh...that might just work.”

The blood around her began to change, quickly becoming foreign to my power. As I lost control of the blood around Amy I poured more around her. A cocoon of mass slowly enveloped her, a gross pulsating thing. She might’ve been a pain in my ass, but I wasn’t going to let Scion take her that easily. She was my pain in the ass to beat, not his.

“Taylor,” she squeaked out, her head the only part of her that wasn’t covered by now.

“Take Junketsu. He’s too hurt from the hit, I can tell….but if Konketsu takes him…”

I gave a small bitter laugh, “Who told you about that? Tsk, someone’s in trouble…”

The joke felt hollow as I looked on the destruction around us. Punishing others wasn’t something I really had the stomach for at the moment.

The mass pulsed and shifted, spitting out the torn sailor uniform. It had been so long since I had worn Junketsu. My father’s last gift to me, in a sense. Still had to wonder why he had chosen a sailor uniform. A whim? Some secret fetish? Some misguided attempt to make something a teenage girl would like? I picked Junketsu up gently, the flood of memories associated with him hung at the edge of my mind.

Amy’s head disappeared into the cocoon. I couldn’t tell if she would be okay, but I had my hopes. She was tough, made tougher by Bonesaw. She might not be able to heal herself directly, but if she could make what she needed from my blood then I had hopes she would survive. Getting her a healer or doctor could happen after Scion was dead as long as she lived.

_Survive Amy. _The thought was directed at her, knowing she couldn’t hear it.

“Think you can absorb this Konketsu?”

He hummed, “Yeah. We should hurry though, he looks in bad shape.”

I nodded, “Go for it then.”

As Konketsu stretched out, my headset burst back to life in a flurry of crackling voices.

“Tailor labs are hit!”  
“Haven engage Scion, provide supporting fire.”  
“No go command, we’re pulling out.”  
“-guys, Suits are disengaging.”  
“Get the fuck back in there or I’ll turn you into my new boots-”  
“This is Ensemble Kansas, we’re pulling back...sorry Tattletale.”  
“Building collapsing Bay side, we need to evacuate-”  
“-T-minus nine minutes to project-”  
“I will end you-”

I could feel Konketsu swell in strength as he absorbed Junketsu, something deep inside clicking into place. He felt different, fuller somehow. Konketsu rumbled gently, taking a moment to himself.

“I feel different...more complete? Like I was missing something,” he murmured lowly.

“Well, Junketsu was the only outfit made entirely by my dad. Maybe there was something special about it,” I said, immediately regretting the maybe. Of course there was something special about it, it was a piece of him.

“Vista’s down! Clock, move!” I heard Kid shouting over my headset.

I swivelled in panic, looking about for Vista. Confusion set in, she looked fine, she was standing defiantly across from Glaistig Uaine. She raised a hand to shield herself from something unseen. Then she reset. The pale ghost of a child in a schoolboy’s uniform floated hauntingly near her, gaze blank and empty. Glaistig Uaine had Gray Boy. He captured his victims, making them live forever, stuck in those few seconds around when they were caught.

I saw Vista snarl at the end of the loop.

_Please, no._  
  
Missy, one of my first true friends. Missy, who had shown me the weird and wonderful shows she loved. Missy, who had helped me find my identity and control my power. Missy, the girl who had grown to be my closest friend beside Konketsu.

I heard Konketsu gasp as he realized what he was seeing.

Glaistig Uaine floated with her ghosts, turning lazily towards Clockblocker.

I couldn’t stop her, not in time.

Scion was a distant concern, a force of nature. Glaistig Uaine had robbed me of my friend. She was about to rob me of the rest. Panic welled inside my chest.

Our forces were splintering. Independent teams were breaking ranks and fleeing. Our main forces were routed. Eidolon was dead and the Faerie Queen was turned against us. Ensemble was broken. I wouldn’t be able to hold either of them off, not with only myself. The project wouldn’t finish in time. Scion was going to get away, my friends would die or worse.

I could feel Konektsu sag on my shoulders, the same depressing realization hitting him as well. We were done, broken. We could fight on, but our forces had collapsed. We had failed the world, Ensemble, and our friends.

_Taylor, I have an idea. I can stop her, but... _ The voice in my mind said, Konketsu sounded strained and cautious.

I didn’t care for caution anymore. I wanted revenge for Missy, for Sabah, for everyone. _Do it._

The plan filled my mind in an instant and the words rang in my head:

_ Kamui Konketsu-  
-Absolute Domination! _

  
“STOP!” I shouted at the Faerie Queen, feeling power propagate out from us.

Something deep pulled within Konketsu, reaching out. My awareness expanded through my link with him. I could feel presences surrounding us, some near and some far. Some were stronger, some weaker. There were too many for me to count. _I’ll handle that, you keep us alive._ I could feel Konketsu shouldering the burden of that connection, it was almost easy for him, like he was born to do it.

Everyone around us had frozen. Glaistig Uaine floated there, stuck as she was. The nondescript uniform she wore beneath her flowery attire glowed faintly. We had given the undersuits out to anyone and everyone when Scion had gone berserk. _Hah, even she took one._ It was working in our favor now more than ever.

I felt Konketsu pull on the thread connecting her to us and she moved jerkily. Another tug and she gestured. Gray Boy lifted a hand towards Vista. The loop repeated. But this time, she kept going.

“Fuck you-Huh?” She paused, looking down at her body, freed from the loop. “I’m free? Oh thank god I’m free!”

I could feel a line to her too, the uniform she wore under our power. Konketsu was holding it slack, leaving her free. It felt like effort, like holding them all still was the default. Awaiting orders. I shivered a little. The thought wasn’t a nice one, that our power treated them like an army of slaves. But they had broken before. Fear had taken hold of them. They wouldn’t break now.

Kid Win swooped down, helping Vista onto his board. “Vista, come on. I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”

Kid looked up at me, one arm supporting a tired but defiant Vista. I couldn’t tell them what I had done, they would want to help. Before I had been unable to let myself be selfish, to hoard the lives of those I held dear. Now I knew that I had that selfishness still in me. _Send them away Konketsu._ I felt his general acknowledgement. I could rationalize that they were injured, unable to help further, but I knew it was a lie. I sent them away because I loved them and I knew what we were about to do.

Scion looked at me, an expression of interest flitting across that dumb, apathetic visage. The mask that he wore while he slaughtered us. _Konketsu. Can you buy us nine minutes?_

_I can try. There’s not many capes left in our range, mostly unpowered staff._

An idea blossomed in my mind and I smiled slightly. _We’ll just have to increase our range then._

“Dragon, you there?” I asked across all command channels, knowing if anyone she would hear me.

A second passed and she answered, “I’m here Ichor. What can I do?”

An unusual pause for her. How many of her systems had been damaged or overwhelmed I wondered. She had been burdened with helping coordinate the largest mass evacuation the world had ever seen.

“I need access to every microphone, speaker system, and communication network that any capes might hear except for the Tailors, priority now,” I said, knowing if anyone could fulfill my request it would be Dragon.

Another pause, longer this time. “I trust you know what you’re doing. Patching you into as many as I can find.”

One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five seconds and I heard a click that I knew meant I was live.

“Life fibers, listen to me! As long as I draw breath, there’s a chance at victory! Rally to me now!” Simple words. Unrefined, not about to inspire anyone. But there weren’t a request. They were a command.

I felt the link through Konketsu, feeling new threads connect to him. A flurry of connections synapsed to him. He was too busy to think at me, too busy to speak. He ordered the connections, directing them, creating groups. Each link was a cape wearing one of our uniforms. Some as their allegiance to Ensemble, some as allies, and others as people who had taken the emergency supplies. I even felt some incredibly distant, on the other side of the world. _Seems Citrine was wrong in attributing that theft solely to the Fallen. _

The number skyrocketed as the transmission spread across the world. Every civilian, every cop, every parahuman wearing our fabrics was drawn perfectly under our control. I could feel Konketsu strain and tremble under the weight. He could manage, would manage. I had to believe in him. I needed him to shoulder that burden and he needed me to lead us and keep us alive.

_I won’t fail you, buddy._

I pointed to Scion, “All forces, attack!”

Scion twisted, turning to face us right as a barrage of lasers rained down upon him. A woman with a hammer appeared beside him, standing upside down on sphere in mid air before launching him into the sky. A cape clad in green with furred bracers enveloped him in a forcefield for a moment before it exploded with golden light, taking the cape out as well. Eidolon’s ghost grabbed Scion in a field, the very air rippling and folding as Scion disappeared, folded into a single dimensional point. He appeared behind Eidolon, arm swinging to cleave his ghost and then stopped. His arm reset and swung again. Gray Boy’s ghost stood below, trapping him.

Scion stepped out of the loop like it was nothing, light blasting down through Gray Boy’s loops and obliterating his ghost. Crucible’s power caught him and immediately the ball of fire burned blindingly bright as he dialed his power up. The shield dropped and fire gushed out as Scion floated out of the flames, eyes locking on me for a moment before Eidolon’s ghost dropped him with crushing gravity. As a beam of gold light shot at Eidolon the gravity weakened, before doubling in force. Crusher leaped down from above, landing on Scion and reinforcing their hold on him.

I saw a group of capes teleport in, clad in identical masks. Yangban began to spread into ranks, firing synchronized barrages of lasers from behind a shield to perforate Scion as he broke free. A blast of gold threw Crusher away, the shield in front of the Yangban trembled. A single unit had appeared, but no others. An experimental unit then, perhaps, one that was testing its recently acquired stolen goods. As golden beams rained down upon the shield they faltered and were torn apart by the lasers. Some re-appeared a second later, where they had been moments before, while some didn’t.

I felt Konketsu strain. _Too many._

_Give me some then._ As soon as I offered I felt their presences shunted over to my half of the connection. Dozens of capes and hundreds of civilians, all just waiting there, needing orders to act. How could I possibly coordinate them effectively?

_I don’t need to, I just need to keep him busy enough that he doesn’t notice what’s happening._

I noticed Signal among the capes I had in my control and directed his power to amplify my voice. A cape with the ability to amplify sounds and a minor Master effect. Suggestions were more powerful, but not as strong as an actual order from a high rated Master.

I growled at Scion, “You won’t win! You’re half of a failed godling and I will kill you!”

He turned, just in time for Critical to blast him from behind, a hole punching through his head and heart simultaneously. Orbs of golden light shot out from around in, exploding near anyone they approached and he disappeared. I juked left immediately, seeing the glare in my peripheral as a laser enveloped where I had been. Scion teleported again and I lashed out, fist crashing into him as he appeared. He caught it and a shield went up, slicing his arm off and blocking him from countering.

A cape I didn’t recognize started vivisecting him with the shields and I flew up as fast as I could. I could feel his focus on us. We had taunted him, we had foiled him, and now we were trying to usurp him. He would chase us down. And he would forget about the lab in the ruined city below that was steadily preparing our last, desperate shot.

Clouds rippled as I passed through them. I tried to sort through the people in my mind. Someone with an electrical power, someone with animal charming, someone who could make golem-like creations. I had to flip through them one at a time, there was no guide, no instinct I could tap into like for my own power. I flipped to the next as golden light flashed from above, a timely sphere of azure sucking it up. A flash of thoughts, feelings, emotion. Cracked pavement, a friend dying in his arms from an injury he couldn’t help. Years of training, the foundation of trust slowly building, friendship, healing. Despair, trapped, helpless. Reminded of his trigger event, he can’t move, can’t breathe, people are dying and he can’t move.

I shook my head as I broke out of his power. Dangerous, I couldn’t afford to lose focus. He was aware though, right now, and panicking. All of them were, I could feel it when he used his power. I flipped through my mental inventory as Glaistig Uaine clashed with Scion, three capes with different weapons danced through the sky around him. Their strikes were like they have choreographed the entire scene for a film, smooth and elegant. I flipped again. One cape was missing. She hadn’t been anywhere near the fighting though. Had she broken free?

A second cape winked out, this time next to another. His teammate perhaps, given that they had come under our control together. I couldn’t look through him to see what happened, I was stuck only giving directions. His power was useless, a small scale matter manipulator, nothing I could use to relay what had happened.

Dragon’s voice crackled over my earpiece, “shzzzzt-aylor? Taylor, please come in.”

“I’m here Dragon,” I replied, flying through a portal in front of me into a different section of sky as I saw golden blooms approaching.

Her voice sounded panicked, “Thank god. What’s going on out there? Is this you?”

“It’s us. We took control using the life fiber suits.” I swerved up, dodging Scion as he stepped out of a cloud swinging for me.

“Taylor, this is bad. Mastering everyone...it’s something Heartbreaker would do, or the Nine. The ends can’t justify the means.”

I winced at the words, uppercutting Scion as he was pulled away by a stream of ethereal hands.

I groaned in return. “They were breaking, we need to hold together. Just a little longer. If we can hold just a little longer we can end this.”

“They won’t forgive you. You’ll be seen as a villain like Alexandria. Please Taylor, stop,” Dragon pleaded.

I grunted, putting distance between myself and Scion as the capes under Konketsu’s control delayed him. “I know. I said I’d be better than her. But I’m not. I won’t let my friends die because I wasn’t willing to get my hands dirty. Four and a half minutes-”

Golden light raced out in a line from Scion, rapidly closing on me. I swerved up, avoiding the wave as it rushed past, the shockwave buffeting me. I saw the wave continue towards the horizon, the thrum of the shockwave muting as it disappeared. I didn’t even want to think about what the effects of displacing that much air that quickly were. There was already enough destruction.

“Hzzzt-Taylor? There has to be another way. I know it’s bad there, but the evacuation is going well. We can manage a layered retreat, buy some time. The device might not work, the others didn’t-” Dragon was cut off by static as Scion clapped his hands together, sending capes falling out of the air like flies.

I snapped a reply off, “We retreat now and we’ll have lost all of our biggest hitters for nothing. If we can’t beat him here, we’ve failed. I’m sorry Dragon, stay out of my way.”

I muted the line. She could’ve overridden it, I was sure, but she knew that the gesture was the point. I wasn’t open to negotiate. She could try to stop. Probably, she would. I respected Dragon because she had her principles and she stuck to them, she had tried her best even when her programming had forced her to do otherwise. If she honestly believed I was doing it wrong, she’d do whatever she had to. That was okay though. It was why she was a good person and an effective cape.

I doubted she could do anything in the remaining four minutes anyhow. After that, it didn’t matter. A blueish window opened in front of me and I flew through it, out a similar window elsewhere. I could tell Konketsu was trying to multitask, keeping us away from Scion while engaging him hard enough that following us would be difficult. I looked at the capes he had given me, but few had flight or the ability to keep up with our current running fight.

An emotion manipulator, a combat precog of some sort, a pair of twins with some sort of sensory/Changer mix that I had difficulty understanding, nothing that stood out as useful. There was one with mirrors that worked liked Skidmark’s power and Critical with his perfect aim, but at best that would pester Scion with a few ground shots. Still, I needed every second I could buy, so I tugged on their strings and sent the volley flying.

I dived down, heading back towards headquarters. I didn’t want to get too far away and risk not being able to lure him back. I estimated three minutes remaining. Konketsu was struggling under the burden of trying to keep that many capes in line. I reached out, trying to get a feel of what was going on so I could help him. As I touched my connection to him it felt like my mind had been scorched, recoiling back reflexively. I jerked in the air as I caught myself, shaking my head. The sea of connections he was holding onto was too much for me to even get a full look at.

Was he even still in there?

_Konketsu?_

I felt the call go unanswered. He was busy, fighting for our lives. I knew bothering him was only slowing him down. But what if he was lost in there? Buried under the weight of his expanded power without a guiding light. I meant it when I said I would do anything for my friends. That included Konketsu. I wouldn’t just let him burn up to save the others.

_Konketsu!_

Unanswered again, but I felt something. A flicker of something. Recognition, acknowledgement maybe. He was still in there. Either overwhelmed or weak, he was still in there. I focused on our connection. _ I’m here buddy. I believe in you. You’re not alone._

A glimmer of hope. Words were too much, but emotion came through. Basic impressions. Hope, gratefulness. Worry, stress. Anxiety, breaking. Struggle, difficulty. Was there a problem with his connection to the life fibers? He was empowered by absorbing Junketsu and Bonesaw’s kamui. Theoretically he had access to the only original kamui and to the one made to control them all. But he wasn’t the original owner of the power, my dad was.

Was it not enough then, to have all the parts without the power itself? He was hijacking Dad’s power essentially, using an override made by Bonesaw and the code that was Junketsu. But Konketsu wasn’t a cape, not like Dragon was. He didn’t have any powers beyond what he was made with. I did. It wasn’t the right power, but maybe it would be enough. It was better than letting him shoulder it alone.  
_  
Konketsu, let me help you. _

Hesitation, fear, uncertainty, distraction, overwhelmed. __

_Certainty, strength, confidence, understanding, resolution._

He opened up and a world of light swallowed me up. There were so many strings, each leading to an individual wearing one of our outfits. Konketsu was trying to make them dance like marionettes, deftly tugging on strings as he made them flit around Scion. Like moths around a flame, it was a struggle of keeping them from being burned. I could see our friends, some of them held slack so they could keep acting, some taut while his attention was busy elsewhere. I could see enemies, capes that had stolen outfits or volunteered to help in the face of extinction. I saw thousands who I would never meet, refugees who had been outfitted on the off chance a little extra protection would let them survive, capes who had come out of the woodwork to help evacuation efforts.

I saw Konketsu at the center of it all, too busy to even notice me. I had borrowed his power, making it my own. His strength, his speed, his transformations. By giving him blood, I had been able to use his power like it was mine. It was a reciprocation of sorts, but he was fundamentally designed to be subordinate in a way. To be worn, not to wear. But what was friendship if it was unequal? He trusted me, and I trusted him. Which is why I was willing to do something I would have never considered in the past.

_Use my powers. _ I felt the bond that linked us and tried to reverse it. Instead of drawing my strength from him, I pushed it the opposite way. It wasn’t designed to work that way, but I could make it. It was my power, my legacy, it would bend to my will.

Konketsu reached out and took hold of the other end, helping me. Something gave and the resistance to flipping it disappeared. I felt a shared awareness, Konektsu tapping into my powers to help manage the tens of thousands that were connected to him. I started tugging on strings, feeling his half of the connection bleed over. I instinctively started to know, roughly, who could do what. Who was where. I could do so much more than before, I could help.

I felt Konketsu turn his awareness towards me.  
_  
T-taylor. I was so worried. Worried I wouldn’t be able to handle it for you._

_Shhh, I’m here buddy. It’s better now._

_I can feel it, it’s easier. It’s like something fits right now. Your power...it’s helping manage the connections. Because it’s related to your Dad’s…?_

_I think so. And you’re helping keep me strong and breathing. It’s time we traded equally, like partners._

_We can do this._

I opened my eyes. That sixth sense was still there. I could see everything Konketsu did clearly now. Scion was two kilometers way, being distracted by two sets of twins, who seemingly could each swap powers at will. Their synergy was letting them avoid his deadly attacks and keep on the run. I coordinated, pulling a cape who had been teleported in from New Zealand. Weather control, specifically lightning. Another cape who could alter the flow of electricity. A third who could switch object properties at will. A tree suddenly endowed with a great propensity for electricity, properties swapped with the air around Scion, right as lightning struck out.

Scion clapped and the two sets of twins had to retreat, the weather controller falling from the sky as his ears leaked blood. I moved, ducking through a short range portal back towards our base. Scion followed, stepping out of a fold in the air. A man in black leather slammed into him, nearly as invulnerable as Alexandria at the moment. Scion raked a beam across him, doing nothing at first before it started to burn. Konketsu grabbed a cape and shield appeared around Scion, the interior filling with flames instantly, giving the man time to pull back.

I found the Yangban, bringing the remains of their squad in to pelt Scion with lasers. One of them had some sort of invulnerability power. Unable to act, but maintaining momentum. Good for surviving a spray of beams that broke through their overlapping forcefields. A stilling field, trying to slow Scion as they broke apart and flew close to the ground. Vacuum spheres surrounded Scion, doing nothing to halt his progress. Nothing short of tearing apart his body or warping the space around him slowed him, and even those wouldn’t slow him for long.

Time was on my side now. Less than two minutes left. We weren’t winning, but we had him stalled. He wouldn’t tear us apart before time ran out. It was all coming together, everyone was working together. I searched for Tattletale among the connections we held. She’s not there? Tattletale had been safe down in the command center, or as safe as anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard was at the moment. She wouldn’t have died.

I clicked my earpiece on, “Tattletale? Come in.”

“Taylor! Holy shit, you scared me. Whatcha need?” She replied, sounding as energetic as ever somehow.

I balked, “How’d you avoid our control? Actually, nevermind, is it ready?”

Tattletale chuckled and I could hear the smirk through the comms. “Tore my suit off when I realized what you were doing, barely managed to get it off in time. Armsmaster is reporting he needs seventy seconds. You have to get him smack dab in the center of where the courtyard was.”

Armsmaster cut in on the line, “Ichor, no time to build a firing solution, this will be by hand. Keep him still when we signal you.”

“Got it. Bringing him in close in thirty.” I kept the line open, knowing there’d be little room for error.

I brought Glaistig Uaine around, relieving the squad of Yangban who were quickly running out of tricks. The ghost of Eidolon was battering Scion as Konketsu grabbed several capes. A cape that could make souped-up primeval style weapons was lugging his gatling-crossbow hybrid over to an injured Foil. She touched the bolts and a spray of fire went into the air. Scion shifted, dodging them and sending a retaliatory beam straight for the two. Konketsu had the Tinker body block it, saving Foil as it burned through the man’s Tinkertech plate armor. Her power was one of a limited set that made Scion stop and pay attention, we couldn’t afford to lose it.

I pulled a Mexican cape in, a villain from his costume if I had to guess. His power was matter destruction, limited by touch, combined with a sort of temporary damage reduction when he was destroying something. Combined with a short-range portal and his hands stretched through behind Scion, burning holes into his back. Scion wheeled around and the portal disappeared, another appearing below him, grabbing his ankles and destroying them. A golden beam clipped his hands, but only scalded them. He borrowed the matter he destroyed as a sort of temporary shield? The particulars were tricky, but I could use that. Scion was nearly infinite in matter, even if he limited the damage we could do to whatever he had in this dimension.

Another portal, combined with an assault by a cape Konketsu brought it. Scion lost an arm and responded with a beam not towards the matter destroyer, but our portal maker. Shields went up, failing as the beam cut into them. The portal maker collapsed as the beam pierced his shoulder. Not necessarily fatal, but if we pulled him back in, Scion would quickly correct that. A Breaker was swapped in, his breaker state was a high energy plasma that was difficult to control. I grabbed the property altering cape from earlier, using his power to help Konketsu guide the plasma cape around Scion.

Scion clapped and this time the air went still. I could sense the air had gone incredibly cold around him, the plasma cape dropping out of his breaker state mid-air. Konketsu directed one of the ground bound capes to catch him, equipped with a momentum altering power. That was thirty seconds, I fired a tendril of blood at Scion and flew to the center of our almost unrecognizable courtyard. He followed, interest re-acquired the moment we had stopped harassing him with every cape in our arsenal.

He came out of my left, swinging for me and I matched him, hitting his fist with my own, feeling the earth shattering force behind it. I could hold him here for half a minute. I had never been stronger, more in tune with myself, my powers, and my partner.

Another blow, this one I sensed through another cape as having something extra, something odd. I dodged and heard the air around his fist crackle, the sharp smell of ozone flooding my nostrils. Konketsu wasn’t slouching, having set up one of Glaistig’s ghosts and another cape on opposite sides of Scion. They used their powers at the same time and ethereal chains appeared around Scion, a set leading to each side. Two Brutes grabbed each set of chains, pulling them taut and he was momentarily bound. A second later and he flickered, the chains collapsing and pulling through him.

He rushed forward, a flurry of blows coming at me. Shields popped into existence, some catching his arms mid-strike. I twisted out of the way. Super reflexes alone wouldn’t have been enough, but we had enough powers focused on him that he couldn’t land a clean hit. He was close, but close was good. Close meant he wouldn’t switch tactics too quickly. He wouldn’t switch to something I couldn’t counter as well. We just had to tread that line, close enough that he didn’t feel the need to break out any of his endgame powers, but not so close that we let him get the advantage.

If he had been less sure of himself, less separated from humanity, he might’ve noticed we were trying to play him. As it was, we were lucky. That distance that he had never closed or considered even worth examining meant that he didn’t think to check. I doubted he lacked a power that could’ve uncovered our plan, had he been more creative. But that’s what they needed us for. For creativity, testing powers. It was obvious now, seeing how he just recycled powers as long as they worked. That drive wasn’t there in the same way.

“Ichor, we’re in position, hold him still!” Armsmaster shouted over the communications channel.

We were almost in the exact middle, floating above the wreckage that had been the courtyard. I tugged Glaistig into action, using Eidolon and Gray Boy while Konketsu gathered several Masters with projections. A fist flew by my ear and the thunderclap would’ve burst my eardrum had I been any weaker. Esoteric effects and projections began to hem Scion in and he threw his arms apart, some sort of nullification wave cancelling them out. He looped for a half second, caught by Gray Boy before a golden beam shot out, piercing his ghost and dissipating it.

I grappled him, trying to hold him still for just a second. Scion dived towards the shattered ground below and I tried to reverse course. I couldn’t pull up against him, his flight as stronger than mine. Vacuum spheres appeared alongside us trying to slow us down, but he held firm. I slammed my head forward, headbutting him hard enough to pulverize concrete. I felt the ground shatter as he slammed us into it, healing patching me up from where sharp concrete had been forced into my back. I grabbed for him and a golden beam cut into my chest, the hole healing almost instantly. Konketsu maneuvered a cape, the area went cold around us and even I felt slower. Scion took a half step slowed before he shrugged the effect off.

Armsmaster grunted, “You have to keep him still. We don’t have long, I need to take the shot.”

I redoubled my efforts, bringing as many Blasters to bear as I could, battering him with every beam we had while I lunged for him. Golden light sucked up the beams and he grabbed my hands. A brief contest of strength lasting microseconds, where I pushed against him before he swept me to the side. I rolled down broken concrete, narrowly avoiding a foot stomping through my chest. Every cape I could think of was trying to bring their powers down on him. Forcefields, blasts of light, gravity. Use everything! The mental command sent powers haphazardly at the both of us, anything to contain him.

I got to my feet, bending over and grabbing him by the waist, flipping him backwards. A piledriver turned into nothing as he phased through concrete, coming back to phase a fist into my gut. I started to heal but he kept it there, I couldn’t heal through his hand. Something rippled through me and I felt my powers flickering, shorting out and restarting over and over, not working properly. I grabbed him by the throat reflexively, even though it was pointless in his case. _We still have the other capes, we can handle this._ He held a hand up, golden light lancing up and out at the capes around us as he stared at me, floating the both of us slowly skyward.

“Ichor, you need to get clear!” Tattletale called out.

I grunted as his hand twisted in my gut, “Do it.”

Armsmaster, pained, raised his voice, “I can’t let you.”

A voice cut clear over the chaos, “Oh I don’t think that’s necessary. Very dramatic, but I have a better idea.”

Scion turned to look first, and then I turned to look at what could catch his attention now of all times. A man with a well kept beard and a boy in his late teens sat on the shoulders of a tall, white figure. It took me a second to realize what I was looking at. _Mannequin and Jack Slash? How did they survive all this time?_

Jack Slash spoke, his voice carrying, “See Theo? This is why we dumped your work outfit. Would’ve made you into a little puppet, cute but rather dull. This is also why we don’t work with Tinkers anymore. Er, Alan excluded.”

He looked to Scion, “You know, I used to hate blank slates. Thought they were useless, never did anything interesting. No creativity, no passion, nothing that makes the soul sing and the brain dance with electrical fire! But you-” He pointed at Scion, “-you’re worse you know. Not only do you do nothing, you get rid of interesting things. You try being a hero and it gets you nowhere. Nothing changes, nothing gets better. So what? You find a challenge and it makes you feel alive for a moment. So like a child you seek out more and more, getting frustrated when nothing fulfills you like that first time.”

“It’s pathetic. You decide you’ll get your last moment of satisfaction, that feeling of having done something, by destroying the world. Either all of Earth can offer you a challenge or there’s nothing left here worth having anyway!”

I felt the hand loosen in my gut as Scion floated there, watching Jack intensely. I had never seen him respond to speech like that.

In my ear I heard the furtive whispering, “Get away, he’s still, we have the shot!”

“What I did, I did for life. I nurtured heroes with a passion for revenge, I left the seeds to regrow the crops I reaped. You’re a child in the playground, a broken husk that’s destroying everything in one huge suicidal plunge. You want to know how to get a challenge? How to feel alive, like your life has meaning again? You build something, so that you can watch it burn.”

Jack pointed at me, “You kill her and you’ll have destroyed the only thing in this world capable of growing to challenge you. And you’ll be **all alone again**.”

Scion looked at Jack and I felt the hand in my gut slip as I started to fall. My powers were still fritzing and I couldn’t pull up as I tried to twist in the air. I looked up, moments after I started to fall a lance of light punched through Scion from the direction of the Tinker workshops. Something large and red and writhing displaced into the center of that bright light for an instant before being sucked into it. The life fiber core, the primordial thing which made all life fibers that Bonesaw had invented, had been thrown into the hole that Tailor Project 7 opened to his home dimension. Scion went still as the glare of light faded, the hole in his chest staying there, glowing.

I felt my powers kick back in for a moment and flew up towards him, almost falling back as they shorted for a split second. Scion floated there, stock still, expression blank like before he had gone to destroy the world. I watched for a few seconds as he just floated there. The silence filled the space around us as there was no blasts of golden light, no thunderclaps, no chaotic whirl of powers, no screams, no blood.

Then he spasmed.

I half stepped back, nearly falling as my power was still weak and wobbly as it returned. I saw Jack Slash and his crew do the same, just as worried.

Konketsu spoke up, “He’s fighting it. I can feel it, it’s rampaging like a virus through him but he’s fighting it.”

“It’s past his defenses,” I replied.

Konketsu looked up at me, “He might survive.”

“He might not,” I countered.

“You know we can’t take that risk,” Konketsu said conclusively.

I knew what he was thinking. It was easier than ever to understand him. The upsetting part was that I understood he was right. Scion was at the weakest he’d ever been, we had a weapon tearing apart his actual core. We’d never have a better shot at ensuring his destruction. A mindless weapon rampaging might kill him, an intelligently controlled one would almost certainly.

I looked down at him, “I’m not saying goodbye again. We’ll find a way to get you back out of there.”

He smiled. “I know.”

Just like that, Konketsu leaped off of me, flying into the hole in Scion’s chest. I started to fall once more, watching as Scion’s body was sucked into the hole and it blinked shut. Konketsu closed the door after him, ensuring even if he couldn’t win, that Scion would be weakened and busy for awhile.

But I knew he would win.

The air whipped around me as I fell through the air. Capes below were slowly shaking off the effects of the life fibers as our hold on them disappeared, all sources of life fiber control cut off in a different dimension.

“Taylor!” I heard Vista call out, trying to warp space over as I neared the ground. The sheer number of capes impeding her progress.

“I goooot iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit,” someone below cried out and I crashed into a pair of arms that immediately buckled under the force. The two of us crashed into Vista halfway to the ground and all three of us fell back together into Aegis, one giant arm wrapped around to cradle us. I turned my head, seeing that Imp of all people had caught me. She was clad only in a makeshift robe, explaining how she had escaped being controlled by life fibers.

I just laid there on top of the pile, relief finally sinking in.

Vista spoke up first, “Is he going to be okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I believe in him.”

Tattletale popped in over the headset, “And you bet we’re not leaving him behind.”

I smiled.

“Not in a million years.”

\----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Notes:  
This fic was originally published on SpaceBattles a few years back. I decided that AO3 was a good place to also post my works so I migrated it over, flaws and all. I hope you've enjoyed the ride.  
Well, with a final word count of 220k it’s actually done. Happy New Year! This story started with an idle daydream of Ryuko vs. Leviathan and grew from there. While writing the first few chapters, I realized I just kept having more and more ideas, so I wove them into a coherent narrative and storyboarded it out. The title was chosen in mind specifically for the last chapter, for example, and things like Alexandria’s death were key points early on. In retrospect, there’s a lot I would do differently, but I don’t think any author has ever finished a work and been 100% content with it. Still, I’m proud to have finished it, even if it wasn’t perfect. Writing that much was a challenge I had never attempted before, sticking mostly to short stories and unnecessarily obtuse poetry. It made me appreciate how difficult it is and why I won’t be a novelist any time soon.  
  
  
Trivia:  
-I had originally considered having Amy take over as the protagonist for the second half, having Taylor fall more as almost entirely Satsuki. This idea was nixed pretty early, but it might’ve been interesting.  
-For a while I was weighing making the end more bloody, ala Worm, or more upbeat, like KLK. In the end, you can see which won out.  
-I considered doing a series of Interludes between Arcs 2 and 3 to show the growth of Ensemble and provide some downtime. This ended up getting cut for motivation and time reasons.  
-Kadath still owes me an omake of Aegis visiting a leather club after his regalia upgrade.  
-Jack Slash doesn’t believe his own speech at the end, he’s the closest we get to Mikisugi, but he’d rather Scion didn’t kill their best shot at survival. He’s very fond of his current trio setup.  
  
Special Thanks to:  
Cailin, for being very supportive through the entire process. Without Cailin, I wouldn’t have gotten the motivation back to finish this fic.  
Shemhazat, for much appreciated advice on KLK elements and the constant threat of a fate worse than death.  
Long time readers like Rater202, mdkcde, and more.


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